


Two Requests

by majora_no_kamen



Category: Hunter X Hunter
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-03
Updated: 2018-11-07
Packaged: 2018-11-22 19:30:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 21,641
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11386863
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/majora_no_kamen/pseuds/majora_no_kamen
Summary: Hisoka teaches Gon how to soccer juggle in exchange for a kiss and a date.





	1. The × First × Request

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first fic, so I'm sorry if my writing is lackluster or bad.

“So we should decide who’s going to play what sport now,” Gon said. He and Killua were finally able to gather enough people to secure eight wins for their next match against Razor and his Pirates. The team had settled to talk somewhere in a dense forest located near Soufrabi. “They said we’re allowed to use Nen in our matches.”

“These are the eight we confirmed,” Goreinu held out a piece of paper with a list of sports to the eight other members in the group. “It’s possible they’d swap them with sports they’re better at if they’re losing.”

Tsezguerra was first to pick his choice. After stroking his chin in a brief train of thought, he figured that volleyball would be the best option as he was most familiar with it out of the possible eight sports. “I’ll go with beach volleyball.”

“I want to do wrestling,” Goreinu said.

“I’m doing sumo!” Killua offered, wanting to have a second round with the sumo pirate they encountered when they went to the Lighthouse base the first time. Eager at the thought of sending that brash pirate into another raging fit, a cat-like grin was streaked on his face.

“Killua, just once more!” Gon pleaded. They’d been performing contests to see who could reach a higher height after witnessing the technique that Tsezguerra showed them prior to accepting him into the team. Gon had lost every match so far, though, and kept begging Killua for one more try. He wanted to _win_ for once!

“Will you give it a rest?!”

“I can handle the boxing. I have a strategy,” Barry said.

“Oh, I guess I’ll do something else, then…” Gon pondered, finally getting off Killua’s back about their one-sided contest.

Sighing, Killua asked, “You’ve never played any sport. What will you do?”

“I’ll bowl. A perfect game will be easy with Nen,” Rodriot pointed to himself. “And I can imagine the tricks they’d use.”

Gon looked to be more troubled by the second as a frown overtook his face. Everyone was already calling out their respective sport that they wanted to play, but he was still indecisive about which one he should pick. He’d never played any of the sports listed back when he lived on Whale Island. The main sport he could really say he participated in during his childhood in his hometown was fishing, as Whale Island was as a popular port for many of the fishermen that visited. He’d only learned of other sports from watching the television at home.

“I pick soccer juggling. My Bungee Gum will simplify things, ♣” Hisoka offered, a sly smirk on his face.

What the hell? Even Hisoka knew what he wanted to do! Gon’s frown only solidified as he continued to feel like an outcast.

“I’ll do the free throw.”

“I’d like to play ping-pong.”

Seeing as all the sports were taken, Gon finally asked, “What should I do?”

“Well, all there’s left is beach volleyball. So you’ll be my partner,” Tsezguerra said. “I’m sure you’ll spike well with your jumping ability, but…” the man placed his hands on his hips and gave Gon a stern expression, “you’ll need lots of practice to get good first!”

Gon shrunk under Tsezguerra’s strict demeanor. He’d never really played volleyball before. Wondering what it would be like, he hoped it wouldn’t be too hard to understand. After they confirmed their plan, they used an Accompany to return to Soufrabi. The group split up at that point, with everyone dispersing to find their own location to practice in. Gon’s group stayed with Tsezguerra as they entered a large gym located in the city.

“Wow, this is pretty convenient,” Killua noted, staring at how large it was. The building itself consisted of five separate floors, with each floor being its own gym. “The creators of this game must have planned this, otherwise there wouldn’t be such a large facility for practicing different sports.” Killua, Biscuit, and Hisoka split up to the other floors, leaving Gon alone with Tsezguerra to train. On the second floor, there was a storage of standard volleyballs that they could practice with. After retrieving one from the stuffed container, they stood in the center of the room to discuss their regime.

“First things first: stretches. Follow my lead,” Tsezguerra said, already starting up the warm-up exercises. Gon did as he was told, imitating Tsezguerra’s actions and performing the stretches to get his blood warming. After a quick run-through of multiple exercises completed altogether in five minutes, they started on the basics of volleyball. “Do you already know how to do the different serves?”

“I know how to do an underhand, I think,” Gon replied. Though, he’d only seen it on television once before with Mito-san. It had been one of those casual training program channels that showcased a different sport each day. Despite this, Gon was confident that he would be able to pull off the basic beginner serve from memory.

“Good.” Tsezguerra folded his arms, straightening his back. “Show me.” Passing the ball to Gon, the boy caught it and then held it out in his left hand above his waist. Stepping with his left leg forward and slightly bending his knees, Gon swung his right arm back and brought it forth to the bottom of the ball, his lower palm smacking against it as it shot forward in a high curve. The ball almost reached the ceiling before falling short of the maximum height and dipping towards the floor.

“Nice,” Tsezguerra commended, “but you put too much power into it. We’ll need to work on that, too.”

“Oh… okay,” Gon said, a bit dispirited. Well, naturally, he didn’t know how much energy he should have used in that serve. He knew he would get used to it with practice and eventually be able to gauge with accuracy, though. Tsezguerra retrieved the ball after it touched the ground and hooked it under his arm.

“Do you know how to serve bumps?” the man asked. Gon shook his head in response. “Alright. Put your forearms together, with your dominant hand enclosed around your non-dominant. Stand with your feet a fair distance apart. When the ball comes towards you, have it land on the area where your forearms are touching. Squat a little and then push your body up when the ball reaches you to bump it back up into the air.”

“Umm…” Steam started to leak out of Gon’s ears. He’d been completely lost after the first two sentences! Struggling to recall Tsezguerra’s words to memory, his brain nearly fried. Forearms… together…-

Tsezguerra chuckled. “My bad, I suppose it would be easier to understand if I demonstrated it.” Throwing the ball into the air, he adjusted his body into position and demonstrated a clean bump with the sound of a firm smack. After bumping it straight up into the air, he caught it in his hands as it fell and turned back to Gon.

“Oh! I see!” Gon smiled. He preferred visual demonstrations to learning over verbal ones, while Killua was the opposite of him. His silver-haired friend seemed to understand new material just from being told it once. Meanwhile, Gon preferred to learn through actual experience, as it helped to better ingrain it into his body to remember. Things like muscle memory were helpful in a practical sense, and especially useful during fights. When Gon fought, he enjoyed having his body move accordingly in response to the opponent’s attacks, as if he was programmed to act on the moves he performed mid-fight. That left space in his mind for him to analyze his opponent’s potential attacks and possibilities for countering.

“Let’s start practicing by bumping the ball to each other.” Tsezguerra bumped it over to Gon, who was able to return the bump with ease. Gon’s stance was rigid and his movements were stiff at first, an obvious sign of being a beginner, but it eventually smoothed and flowed nicely as he got used to it over time. After twenty minutes passed, Gon nailed the form down with near precision, already being considered more than adequate under Tsezguerra’s standards. The two eventually moved onto overhand serves, a more complicated technique than the basic underhand, but nothing that Gon couldn’t handle.

“Hey, Tsezguerra! Teach me spikes next, please?” Gon begged. They’d gotten an hour of training in and Gon had barely broken out a sweat. His breathing became more ragged as a result of the endless moving during their training, but it was only the beginning. Although they hadn’t moved much in terms of actual distance, just passing the ball back-to-back with each other, the act of having to consistently move core parts of their body had eventually taken its toll. With a constant need to adjust their positions according to the direction of the ball’s landing, the physical strain on their bodies would gradually increase over time. Currently, however, Gon was far from being exhausted and his body hardly seemed to be under the effects of fatigue. Tsezguerra could tell that Gon could go on for hours - even the whole night - if he wanted to.

“No! You still need to work on your passing,” he opposed. “We’ll work on spikes tomorrow.” In all honesty, Tsezguerra was astonished by the remarkable progress that Gon was making. Indeed, he knew the boy was a talented prodigy ever since he displayed his Ko during the screening for Greed Island players, but even this was exceptional. Gon pouted at Tsezguerra’s refusal, as he had to do more of the mind-numbing training they’d already been doing for the past hour. It had been exciting at first, learning about something unknown, but it’d gotten boring for Gon after becoming used to it. He wanted some more thrilling action that would _really_ get his heart pumping and blood rushing throughout his body. Gon remained obedient, though, and continued to follow Tsezguerra’s words.

They focused on nailing defensive positions after working through the basics of offensive attacks. The bruises forming across Gon’s body only increased in numbers as his training continued, most of them being from practicing how to dive for the ball. It had been difficult to get the position right, and Gon ended up injuring his knees multiple times before finally being able to succeed with the form. His arms were not excluded from injuries, either, and black spots, some with a tint of yellow, were visible. Gon could feel a particularly nasty one on the right side of his hip as it ached every time he applied a minimal amount of pressure on it. He wasn’t deterred, though, as he knew that physical injuries were a crucial part of the learning process. Gon was aware that he would quickly recover from them as he usually did, with the bruises fading away in no time.

After a few more hours of training had passed, Gon wounded up with several dark colored bruises across his body, with a distinct redness around his forearms where he’d been practicing the bumps. Numerous small red dots had formed across the area and Gon was concerned, but Tsezguerra reassured him that it was natural to occur to beginners who weren’t used to the impact of the ball consistently hitting that spot. As Gon built up tolerance to the ball if they continued their daily training for a week, the harmless red spots would disappear over time.

Seeing the sun finally set with an orange hue painting the sky and the lampposts in the city turning on, Tsezguerra called the training session to an end. “We made good progress today. Let’s get some rest now,” he said.

“No! I can keep going!” Gon said with burning enthusiasm, ignoring the presence of the bruises that were located all around his body.

“Idiot!” Tsezguerra reprimanded. “Not everyone has amazing stamina like you.” He himself had been sweating hard and removed his jacket a long time ago.

“Oh…” Gon finally noticed how worn out Tsezguerra looked as the older man seemed to be out of breath and overtaken by sweat. “Sorry, you’re right!” he apologized with his hands placed together. “You go on ahead. I want to check up on how Killua is doing.” If he remembered correctly, Killua should have still been on one of the upper floors of the building.

“Alright. We’ll meet here again tomorrow morning.” Tsezguerra did some finishing stretches as Gon followed suit before walking over to the side to grab his military jacket that he’d discarded earlier. “I’m going to regroup with my team. Contact me if something comes up.”

“Got it!” Gon nodded. After waving goodbye to Tsezguerra, he headed off to the staircase to visit the other floors of the gym in hopes of finding Killua.

♥♦♠♣

“Killua?” Gon called out, peering his head into the room as he opened the door halfway. He didn’t know which floor Killua was located on, so he planned to search through all of them starting from the third floor. With searching eyes, he immediately spotted a figure with red hair. “Hisoka?!”

“Hmm?” The magician turned around to face him. “Already finished with your training, Gon? ♣”

“Yeah.” Exercising caution, Gon walked past the door and edged closer to the magician who was spinning a ball with his finger. He made sure to keep his guard up in case Hisoka tried to do anything suspicious. Even after they’d formed a temporary alliance, Gon still couldn’t shake off the bad feeling that had been plaguing back of his mind ever since they teamed up. Bisky mentioned that Hisoka was lying about something back when they met in the lake, but none of them still even knew what it was.

“It seems that you’ve been working hard. ♣” Hisoka said, indicating the discolored bruises on Gon. Smirking, he continued, “They look wonderful on you. ♥”

Gon lost his cautious expression as it morphed into confusion. “They do?” he asked. Hisoka could be pretty weird at times…

Hisoka chuckled. “Well, who knows. ♦ There aren’t any mirrors here, are there?”

Gon blinked and looked around the room, shaking his head in response to Hisoka’s question. Indeed, there were no mirrors here. “What sport are you doing again?” he asked in a feeble attempt to make small talk. Even if Hisoka wasn’t someone they could completely consider trustworthy, Gon figured it would still be polite to talk with him. After all, alliances could only be built on trust, and Mito-san drilled good manners into him.

“Soccer juggling.” Hisoka let the ball in his hand drop, but it didn’t drop to the floor like gravity would dictate. Instead, it swayed left to right like a pendulum in motion with Hisoka’s finger. He must have been using Bungee Gum, Gon realized. With his interest piqued, innocent curiosity overpowered Gon’s need to be wary.

“Is it hard?” he asked, pointing at the ball that was under Hisoka’s control.

“Mm, not really,” Hisoka said in a disregarding manner. “Perhaps it would be difficult for you, though. ♠” Gon’s brows furrowed, frowning at what Hisoka was implying. Taking those words as a challenge, he stepped closer to the magician, displaying brown eyes in a fierce gaze.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean what I said, Gon, ♦” Hisoka smirked, knowing that it would rile the boy up even more.

“I bet I can do it! Give me the ball,” Gon declared, eyes brimming with determination. There was no way in hell he was going to back down! He was going to prove Hisoka’s words wrong right in front of the magician’s own damn face.

“Very well.” Hisoka passed Gon the ball that he’d been toying with earlier. Without missing a single beat, Gon caught the ball in his hands with a tight grip. He was about to show Hisoka that soccer juggling was _not_ out of his league at all. Except…

“How do you juggle this?” Gon asked, a look of pure confusion plastered on his innocent face as his gutsy demeanor faded. He’d witnessed it in the match with the Pirates, but it ended in a second since the plan was for Bisky to lose on purpose, so he didn’t get to see much. The idea was for them to scout the potential sports so they could rematch them after coming back prepared with a stronger team. Growing up on Whale Island, Gon had never even heard of soccer juggling and it wasn’t one of the sports that had been showcased on television.

Hisoka stared at the boy, golden eyes shifting from being blank to downright amused before letting out a quiet chuckle. “You’re so adorable. That’s what I like about you. ♥”

“What?” That hadn’t answered his question at all! Hisoka’s words made Gon even more confused as to what the deceptive magician was trying to say.

“You acted all feisty and determined to prove me wrong, yet you don’t even know how to juggle the ball. ♦”

“Shut up!” Gon pouted. “Just tell me how and then I’ll show you that I can do it.”

“Why should I?” Hisoka asked, folding his arms. His question briefly stunned Gon, who wasn’t expecting to be denied. A mischievous smirk was affixed on Hisoka’s face, becoming more playful by the second. “There’s no reason why I should tell you, is there? The sport you selected was volleyball, not soccer juggling. ♣”

“Argh!” That comment only made Gon more frustrated. “What do you want? If it’s a fight that you want then I’ll give you it!”

“As much as I would love to fight you, now isn’t the time. ♠” His fruit still needed more time and training to ripen. After seeing Gon’s Ren a while back, Hisoka was pleased by just how far the boy had come. He knew Gon hadn’t reached his full potential yet, the boy still had quite a long way to go, and Hisoka had to wait until that special moment was reached.

At this rate, Gon would transform into something incredible with just a few more years of training. The wait itself was well worth it for Hisoka, all for the sake of crushing Gon with his own two hands and personally seeing the boy fall to his knees. Excitement rushed through Hisoka as he mused at just how _perfect_ their fight would be: battling only with the intent to kill, destructive bloodshed occurring as they would fight without any restrictive boundaries or rules that would only serve to hinder their utter eradication of the other. Hisoka wanted to watch his delectable, little fruit grow and mature until he was truly worth fighting - and killing.

Currently, though, there was little interest in him to fight Gon again, seeing as the boy had already went through a day of mindless training. Noting the fresh number of bruises all over Gon’s body, Hisoka was easily able to deduce that the boy wasn’t in top shape. He would consider fighting Gon again when the boy was in his best possible condition - it would only make the raw bruises that would form on the boy’s pretty skin when Hisoka ravaged his body _all the more worth it_. He refused to settle for anything less.

“Why not?” Gon asked, surprised at Hisoka’s refusal to fight. “You wanted one back in Heaven’s Arena.”

“I recall that you were the one who desired to have a match with me, ♣” Hisoka smirked, bringing out a deck of playing cards to shuffle as he continued. “Isn’t that why you went to Heaven’s Arena in the first place? You were so hasty to have a match with me that you signed up for one the day after our meeting and nearly exposed yourself to the traditional Nen greeting. ♦”

Gon couldn’t argue against that. After Hisoka offered to accept a duel if he won at least one match on the 200th floor, Gon spent his days undergoing vigorous Ten training, all for the sake of being able to fight Hisoka - and Hisoka _alone_.

He’d wanted to catch up to the man. He’d wanted to fight the man and return the tag that stained him with frustrating shame at just how helpless he was back in the Hunter Exam. He’d been too powerless to do anything during that situation on Zevil Island when he fell prey to Geretta’s poison dart, and Hisoka had practically took pity on Gon by giving him his badge. The condescending act made by Hisoka pissed Gon off to no end. He didn’t want a _damn_ freebie, he wanted to earn his right as a Hunter through his own hard work! It was a direct blow to his pride that stung for months, and Gon refused to let it stand.

Taking Gon’s silence, Hisoka continued to pester him about it. “I was quite upset to see that you fractured your ribs in that match. ♠”

Gon frowned. “How do you know about that?”

Chuckling, Hisoka made the cards that were in his hand disappear into thin air. “I witnessed your match live. ♥”

“Wait, really?! I didn’t see you there.” Gon tried to think back to his first match on the 200th floor in Heavens Arena. He remembered battling Gido and the spinning tops that he had difficulty with the first time, but couldn’t seem to recall Hisoka being in the crowd to watch him. He’d been too focused on concentrating with his Zetsu to really pay attention to his outer surroundings.

Seeing Gon stumble for distant memories, Hisoka reassured him. “Don’t ponder too much on it. ♣”

His tone shifted into something much more sinister. Gon sensed the slightest trace of bloodlust that slipped out of Hisoka, a disturbing aura that was much more befitting of the magician and one that would _always_ send cold shivers down his spine.

“I will be the one to kill you, Gon. Until that time comes, you mustn’t fall prey to another.”

Barely registering Hisoka’s movements, a pale hand grasped Gon’s neck, sharp nails poking into the flesh but not quite digging deep enough to draw any blood. The grip, although not lethal, forced the chain of the Paladin’s Necklace to bury into Gon’s neck, the cool metal marking its imprint onto the skin. Lowering his head to Gon’s level, Hisoka’s hot breath glossed over the fragile skin of the neck.

“Remember that well, ♥” he purred, his velvet voice drawing warm air against Gon’s earlobe as the boy quivered under the fleeting sensation.

Gon stood frozen in shock at how fast Hisoka’s movements were, so immediate that he wasn’t even aware of it until it was too late and the magician already had a hand wrapped around his neck. His body was on the verge of forcing itself into a primal fight-or-flight mode, signals of danger and to run away screaming throughout his body, but Gon refused to budge an inch from where he stood. Sweat formed at the base of his neck as his feet trembled but remained rooted in their spot. Urging himself to remain calm, Gon soon recovered from the brief fear that possessed his body. Another emotion clashed with this instinctual fear, one that he had a greater difficulty understanding, even now.

Gon didn’t understand the thrill that shot throughout his body from the rush of possibly being hunted - killed even. His body responded in two clashing emotions whenever the looming presence of death dawned on him: fear and excitement. He swallowed some saliva as his body refused to stop trembling, the magician feeling the lump that passed down the boy’s throat against his hand. Gon was well aware of the predicament he was in and just how vulnerable he was in front of Hisoka. He wanted to back off from the magician and create some much needed distance between them, but his stouthearted pride forced him to remain in his spot. Stay calm!

His mouth tasted arid as a metallic texture coated his tongue. Cold air sent ghastly waves across Gon’s sensitized skin, down to the very tips of his fingers as they fidgeted. Was he in fear or excitement, or both? Gon didn’t know. The opposing signals that spurred from his body in response to a life-threatening situation was always something Gon both hated and admittedly loved. He hated the fear that pressured him into wanting to run away in the presence of danger, and yet he longed for the anticipation that brought surges of sharp, exhilarating pleasure to his body when he faced that danger head-on.

Swallowing some more saliva in a futile attempt to alleviate his dry mouth, Gon asked, “Well if you don’t want a fight, then what?” He maintained eye contact with Hisoka, never straying from those deceptive golden eyes. Hisoka moved away from Gon, giving the boy some much needed space. Wary of any movements, Gon remained tense and more on guard than ever.

Golden eyes glinted with mischief, making Gon regret ever asking his question. “I’m willing to reconsider on one condition, ♦” Hisoka offered.

Frowning at the obscure statement, Gon pushed for an answer. “Just tell me already.”

Hisoka’s playful lips pulled upward into a roguish smirk, his head tilting ever so slightly. “I’ll teach you if you kiss me. ♥” Gon blinked his eyes in pure disbelief. Did he hear this correctly?

“Kiss me,” Hisoka repeated. “Or is something like this too difficult for you to handle as well? ♦” he teased, seeing how Gon hadn’t responded to his previous statement. His provocation definitely earned him a response this time.

“I can handle it! I’ve given lots of kisses before,” Gon said. He almost let himself brag in front of Hisoka, hardly worried about the request. It was just a kiss. He’d given Mito-san plenty of them before!

“Really?” Hisoka seemed to be disappointed. Maybe he should have asked Gon to do something else, seeing as the boy’s reaction was lackluster compared to what he was expecting. The magician didn’t dwell on it much, though. That was what made Gon interesting, after all. He could never truly figure out what went on in the boy’s mind. Gon was an enigma, never ceasing to amuse Hisoka during their interactions.

“Yeah!” Gon smiled, with perhaps too much enthusiasm. “I gave Mito-san kisses every day back when I was still on Whale Island. And the women I went on dates with gave me kisses, too!”

…Dates? A frown displayed on Hisoka’s face as he envisioned the idea of Gon attending dates with multiple women. He’d never expected Gon to be _that_ type. The boy struck him as more of an innocent and naive character in these types of situation. Hisoka stared at a card that he held up in front of himself and decided to revise his offer after some brief contemplation. “Then a kiss won’t do. ♠”

“What else do you want?” Gon hoped Hisoka hadn’t changed his mind and decided to make him do something harder in exchange for teaching him how to soccer juggle.

“A kiss _and_ a date. ♥”

A date. Oh. That was… easier than he’d expected, but Gon heaved a sigh of relief and the smile on his face returned.

“Okay! Do you want to go on a date right now?” Glancing towards the window, the sky was transitioning from a mix of blue and indigo to a black shade. With a worried look, Gon’s gaze returned to Hisoka. “It’s getting late though and I don’t have anything planned.” Usually, he planned a few days before the actual date to prepare everything and make sure it was perfect. Mito-san had told him it was good manners to map things out ahead of time so he could make the other person happy for when they were on their date.

“I don’t mind. We can schedule the date for another time.”

“Then let’s go on a date after we beat Razor and his Fourteen Devils to celebrate!” Gon brimmed with excitement, sealing the deal with Hisoka. With the match being a week from now, he had plenty of time to formulate a plan for their date. He could squish in the planning during the few spare hours he had after finishing training with Tsezguerra and before meeting back up with Killua and Bisky for dinner in the upcoming days. He could also probably spare a few days after the match to make sure that everything was set and ready.

“Mm, sure,” Hisoka complied, waving his hand. “But if we’re having the date later, then you have to give me the kiss now. ♥”

“Okay,” Gon nodded in absent-mindedness, bending down to place the ball that was in his hands by his feet before standing back up. Walking over to the magician, he went on his tippy-toes and tried to reach Hisoka. Stretching his legs as far as he could, Gon barely reached Hisoka’s shoulders, still being a few inches away from the magician’s face. His legs trembled as he tried to reach higher, but still not quite making the mark. With an exasperated sigh followed by a cute pout, Gon complained, “You’re too high for me to reach!”

Chuckling at the boy’s childish charm, Hisoka leaned over slightly to let the boy have an easier time of reaching his level. “My apologies. Is this better? ♣” Gon nodded in satisfaction, wrapping his petite arms around Hisoka’s neck. Grasping some red locks around Hisoka’s nape between his small fingers, Gon noted how soft the magician’s hair was. The texture of the hair was unbelievably smooth and Gon played with the locks a little, touching them more than he really should. Hisoka did nothing to stop him, however, and Gon unconsciously leaned in closer towards him.

With one final desperate spurt on his tippy-toes, Gon slowly closed his eyes and planted a small, sweet kiss on the magician’s pale cheek. Soft, tender lips brushed the skin, staying there for a few seconds before gently pulling away, leaving a lingering spot of warmth from where the kiss was placed. As he opened his eyes, Gon gave a bright smile to Hisoka, flashing his teeth. “There!”

Hisoka was… silent. Gon was almost worried that he’d done something wrong, as the magician made no immediate response after he’d pulled away. Staring at the taller man with anxious eyes, something so unexpected occurred that surprised Gon. Hisoka let out a warm laugh at the act that had just transpired.

“You’re so silly that it’s endearingly cute, ♥” he replied, placing his hand on Gon’s forehead as he stroked it over the boy’s hairline. Ruffling the spiky hair, Hisoka continued to pet the boy’s head, caressing the black locks.

“Don’t treat me like a kid!” Gon raised a hand to pull away the hand that was messing up his hair, but it refused to budge. Hisoka merely flashed him his usual deceptive smirk that implied he was hiding something but had no intention of saying. Wrapping his arm around Gon’s waist, Hisoka pulled the boy in closer toward him, their bodies pressing against each other. After several failed attempts to tug Hisoka’s hand away, Gon retracted his hand as his cheeks became flushed with heat. Gon’s face gradually grew warmer as the tip of his ears became tinged with a bright red.

Finally removing his hand from the boy’s head and freeing him from his tight hold, Hisoka straightened his back. Gon’s arms slipped off from the motion as the magician’s neck was no longer encircled by a pair of warm hands. Cool air grazed over the area where Gon’s arms had been, erasing the warmth as Hisoka’s lonely neck longed for that sensation again.

Gon’s heart was racing and his stomach wanted to leap in happiness as a fluttery feeling enveloped his insides, a feeling that he questioned with curiosity. Taking deep, controlled breaths, he soon recovered from the hot feeling that had plagued his body from when Hisoka stroked his head in a gentle touch. Gon resisted bringing his hand up to touch his head in an attempt to replace that lost comfort, deciding to leave his mussed up hair in its unkempt form.

“I’ll teach you how to soccer juggle, ♣” Hisoka said, pulling a ball from the container across the gym all the way over to himself by using Bungee Gum. Once in his hands, he let it drop before bumping it back up with his foot. Gon backed away from Hisoka, creating some space for the magician to work with. Hisoka continued to bump the ball back up into the air, alternating between his two feet. “The objective is to not let the ball touch the ground, ♣” he stated.

Gon was mesmerized at how smooth Hisoka was with handling the ball. His eyes followed the trajectory of the ball and how it kept bouncing back up whenever it touched Hisoka’s feet. Hisoka must have really been practicing all day to reach this level of mastery, he realized. The magician kept juggling the ball without it ever coming contact with the floor. The way he bounced it right back up at an angle in which it would fall seamlessly straight down to his feet was almost magical. Gon, entranced by Hisoka’s performance, watched in silence as the act commanded his attention. After a minute, thought it had felt longer, Hisoka scooped up the ball into his hand and Gon was snapped out of his daze.

“Well?” Hisoka asked, his voice grazed with an edge of challenge. Gon clenched his fists as he accepted it, eyes burning with intensity.

“I can do it!” he asserted, picking up the ball that he’d left on the floor earlier.

Hisoka chuckled  as he played with the ball in his hand, making a proposition to Gon. “Shall we play a game then? ♦”

Gon blinked, his eyes widening as they shifted to an innocent gaze. “What game?” he asked, excited at the idea of playing a game.

“It’s quite simple,” Hisoka said. “A game to see who can juggle the ball longer. ♣”

“Alright,” Gon smiled, his hands shaking in eager anticipation. “You’re on.”

“Then we start on the count of three. One. Two. Three.”

They both dropped the ball, starting their match. Focusing on keeping the ball up, Gon observed the ball’s movements and lightly kicked it back up with his foot whenever it threatened to touch the ground. His body, unfamiliar to soccer juggling, led Gon to struggle considerably to keep up the act. He managed to reach ten seconds before the ball was flicked to the side. “Ah!” Gon squeaked, seeing the ball roll away with a growing distance. Making his way over towards it, he picked it back up in his hands before it could stray even farther. Hisoka tsked as Gon turned around to face him.

“Oh my. ♦ That was an awfully short match. I believe you said that it wouldn’t be difficult for you? ♠” he sing-songed in a mocking tone. With a devious smirk, Hisoka added on to push Gon over the edge just a bit more. “Surely, this isn’t all you can do. ♣”

“I-It’s my first time!” Gon countered, his fingers digging into the ball. Damnit! He knew Hisoka was provoking him, but he couldn’t help but get angry as his frustration grew. He was determined to prove the magician wrong! Shooting Hisoka a glare that could very well burn a hole through his body, Gon demanded him, “One more time! I’ll get the hang of it soon and then I’ll beat your ass at it!”

Hisoka’s smirk only grew wider. “Is that so?”

♥♦♠♣

“I’m beginning to wonder how soon is ‘soon.’ ♠” Hours of soccer juggling matches had passed, with Gon losing _every single one_ of them. “Or are you still getting the hang of it? ♥” Hisoka taunted.

“Ah! Damnit!” Gon groaned as he missed the ball yet again, the round object falling past his feet. He didn’t bother to pick up the ball as it rolled away, instead opting to drop onto the floor, sitting cross-legged. Gon winced upon the impact of falling onto the floor, remembering the aching bruises from volleyball training. Using his hands to steady himself, Gon leaned back as he looked up towards the ceiling. As he took heavy breaths, his eyes darted to the window, revealing there wasn’t a single trace of a blue tint left in the sky. The moon made its presence evident as the lights in the city were fueled by street lamps emitting orbs of light. The growing frustration inside of Gon only served to quicken the process of the physical and mental weariness of his body. Losing every single match hadn’t done well to keep up his morale, even as he willed himself to keep trying.

Gon closed his eyes as sweat drenched his entire body. His tank top clung to his body as a result of the endless sweating, perpetuating the sticky feeling that was plastered all over him. Thankfully, there were air conditioners installed in the gym to help fasten the cooling process that was taking place. Bringing up a hand to tug on the front opening of his shirt, it allowed more crisp air to reach his chest. After exhaling a pleased sigh at the refreshing sensation, Gon frowned as he realized that he would have to wash his shirt tonight to rid it of the damp residue. What a pain that would be.

“Giving up already? ♦” Hisoka teased, making his way over to where Gon lay panting like a mess.

“No way!” he retorted, getting right back up on his feet despite his body wanting to rest and spend a few more minutes on a break. Wiping away the sweat on his forehead in ragged breaths, Gon continued, “I won’t stop until I get it!”

They began their match again, with the outcome being identical to the previous one, except it lasted one second. Bringing up a hand to cover his mouth, Hisoka could hardly suppress the laughter that threatened to spill at the sight of Gon knocking the ball so hard that it flew across the gym. The ball was slammed against the wall, leaving behind a _very_ inconspicuous hole as steam simmered from the spot.

“C-Crap!” Gon blurted with widened eyes. He’d been so upset that he’d forgotten to restrain his power! Running to get the ball, he found it lodged in the spot with no intention of leaving. After trying to pull it out a few more times and failing, he turned around to face Hisoka who had an all-knowing smile that he just wanted to wipe off of the magician’s face.

“What’s wrong? ♠” Hisoka asked, mocking Gon as he tossed the boy another ball from the storage with his Bungee Gum.

Gon, whose face was burning from a mix of embarrassment and anger, caught the ball with more force than necessary and choked the innocent object in his hands. “I’m going to win eventually, just you wait!”

♥♦♠♣

“I’ve been _waiting_ for quite a while now, Gon. ♣”

Gon panted, wiping away the sweat that covered his neck with the back of his hand. He’d lost every single match they had, yet again. “I don’t get it,” he began. He’d improved fast, eventually being able to keep the ball up for ten minutes, but Hisoka would beat him. Every. Single. _Time._ “How are you so good at this?”

“I’m a magician, ♥” Hisoka stated, knowing the minimalist answer would only irritate Gon further. “I’ve gotten used to juggling things a long time ago. ♣” Bits and pieces of memories from the past with the circus he used to travel with came back to his mind, but Hisoka merely pushed them away with ease. The past wasn’t something he liked to dwell on too much.

“But… you haven’t lost a single one. You haven’t even broken a sweat at all!” Gon frowned, with an accusatory glance at the magician who still seemed in perfectly good shape. There wasn’t a single thing that hinted at strain or fatigue on Hisoka’s body. The magician’s hair was still held up in pristine condition, not even a _little_ bit drooped at all! In contrast, Gon could feel the top spikes of his hair curling a bit downward, but still maintaining their natural upright position.

“It comes with practice, ♣” Hisoka said, dodging the question.

Gon groaned. Lying down on his back with his arms outstretched, he allowed the cool air to rush over his skin. In between messy breaths, Gon heaved, “No wonder you volunteered for this sport.”

Hisoka’s smirk only grew wider, as if he was still hiding something behind that facade. Sitting down on the floor a few feet away from Gon with one knee up, Hisoka brought out his usual deck of cards to play with. Shuffling them mindlessly, his eyes were focused on Gon, who was currently taking a small intermission from their game.

As the chilly air breezed over Gon in gentle waves, relaxing his body, his mental composure improved as well. Closing his eyes, his thoughts wandered to early morning. He wondered how Killua was handling his training. Knowing Killua, the silver-haired boy must have already mastered sumo wrestling and already began working in his Nen training again with Bisky. Gon disliked the thought of Killua getting ahead of him, but right now, he was fixated on winning at least _one_ match against Hisoka in soccer juggling. Nen training could come later! His thoughts on Killua’s advancements connected to the progression of other members in his alliance. As his mind was drawing out his memory of who selected which sport to specialize in, the words that Hisoka had said during the morning rang back in his mind.

_“My Bungee Gum will simplify things. ♣”_

Gon shot up from the floor, sitting upright as he ignored the blood that rushed to his head from the sudden movement. Hisoka was unsurprised at the abrupt act. Instead, the magician’s closed grin intensified at the absolute look of realization that painted Gon’s face. Gon turned towards Hisoka, directing his aura to be focused in his eyes. As white aura spiked around his eyes, the pink, elastic aura emanating from Hisoka’s body became visible for him to see. The rubbery substance was attached to the ball, lodged between two strands that connected to the magician’s feet.

“You were cheating this whole time?!” he accused, pointing to the ball that was affixed to Hisoka’s aura.

“You said we could use Nen in the matches. ♦”

“That’s for the match with Razor’s team! Not the ones we’ve been having together!” Gon pouted at Hisoka’s obvious attempt to expose a loophole out of this.

The cards that Hisoka had been shuffling vanished as he chuckled in response. “You’re awfully picky. ♠”

“Let’s have one more match,” Gon said, standing up with renewed determination. “And this time, _without_ your Bungee Gum to help you!”

“As you wish,” Hisoka smirked, standing up as well. Deactivating his convenient ability, the rubbery aura around the ball vanished from sight. The two resumed the game they’d been playing for hours now in a vicious contest to prove the other wrong. Gon kept Gyo up throughout their match as a precaution to the possibility of Hisoka activating it during the match itself if he wasn’t paying attention. Now that the match was actually even and fair, or so he figured, Gon was determined to prove Hisoka wrong and actually win for once.

That wasn’t how things went, though.

Gon eventually lost control of the ball once again, kicking the ball in an outward angle that led it astray and rolling onto the floor. Meanwhile, Hisoka was still performing with ease even without the aid of his ability.

Brown eyes clashed with golden ones.

“One. More. Time.”

♥♦♠♣

“It’s quite late,” Hisoka stated, juggling the ball without even having to try. The magician had his arms folded, an arrogant gesture. “Shouldn’t you be returning to your friends by now? ♦”

“Not until I win!” Gon’s eyes had gotten used to the ball and predicting where it would go. After hours of practice, it became easy for him to juggle the ball. He was able to sense where it was going to go, hardly even having to look at it directly anymore. He still had to keep a fraction of his attention on it though, putting the rest of his focus in maintaining Gyo. He’d kept it up for all his matches so far, which started putting considerable strain on his body.

Gon was aware that his movements became more sluggish and that his body felt heavier than usual. Sheer willpower fueled by his need to make Hisoka eat his own words was the only thing that kept Gon enduring the strenuous conditions he was exposing himself to. He knew that he was being selfish, forcing his exhausted body to keep going and possibly screwing himself over for his volleyball and Nen training the next few days, but he didn’t want to give up no matter what.

If anything, Hisoka was amused by the unmitigated determination that Gon held along with a persistent inability to back down from a challenge. That alone was commendable. “Unfortunately, you won’t. ♠”

Shit… Gon sensed his aura depleting more so than ever as each minute passed by in their extending game. His vision blurred and he nearly dropped the ball as his overworked muscles ached in pain. “How can you be so sure? We still have plenty of time left!” he managed to choke out despite how overcome by fatigue he was. Mustering up even more energy that he hadn’t realized still remained at first, he focused all of it into his eyes. Gon’s heavy breaths became more apparent and loud, and his throat was scorched as his body became severely dehydrated after keeping up Gyo nonstop. Swallowing his saliva, it had done nothing to soothe his sore throat by a small amount, but instead left stinging sparks of a minor burn in the area. Gon’s legs trembled as a sign that his body was on the verge of giving up, but he grit his teeth and demanded them that they keep going.

“Take a look at the clock.”

“Huh?” Gon’s eyes widened, darting across the room for the clock before realizing he could just check the time with his binder. Damnit, he realized. Hisoka intentionally worded it that way, knowing that his search for a physical clock would only serve to exhaust him even further! “Book!” The familiar blue binder popped into existence with bold numbers indicating that it was currently three in the morning and- “Oh, crap!” Gon blurted. “When did Killua use Contact on me?!”

“An hour ago,” Hisoka answered him in a gracious manner, irritating Gon in the process. “The sound rang but you were too focused on our match to notice. ♣”

Gon’s attention turned away from his binder, reverting it to Hisoka. “Why didn’t you tell me?!” he asked, wiping some sweat away from his forehead as his binder disappeared in a wad of clouded smoke.

“You would have accused me of telling you about it as a way for me to get you to lose. ♠ Am I wrong? ♥” Hisoka smirked.

“No, you’re right bu-” Gon stopped himself from continuing that sentence as Hisoka chuckled. Narrowing his eyes, he shot a fierce glare towards Hisoka. Opening his parched mouth to speak again, he was about to make another statement before his vision shut to black.

The ball dropped to the floor with a sharp thump as Hisoka’s eyes widened. Gon’s body dipped forward and Hisoka disregarded his own ball, moving towards the falling figure. Catching the boy in his arms, his concern only grew. “Gon?” he asked. With no verbal answer, he helped Gon’s body to remain standing upright, although the boy’s head leaned against Hisoka’s chest.

Hisoka felt Gon’s quiet breaths and he relaxed after realizing Gon must have passed out after using Gyo for an extended period of time. Displaying a rare, genuine smile, Hisoka shifted Gon in his arms with tender care, aware of the bruises that covered the boy’s body. In one swooping motion, Hisoka held Gon into a bridal carry. Gon’s legs dangled over Hisoka’s arm as his head laid against the magician’s chest.

The boy was heavier than Hisoka initially thought, holding more weight than expected considering how petite he was. Hisoka’s fingers curled inward, his sharp nails barely pricking the skin as he lightly squeezed the soft flesh in his hands. The fluorescent lights from above filtered over Gon’s face, emphasizing on his features. Hisoka observed the sleeping face, noting how long Gon’s eyelashes were. He stared at them, marveling at their length and how pretty they seemed on the boy.

His eyes then trailed down to the boy’s mouth where it it was slightly open, inhaling and exhaling small puffs of breaths between small, inviting lips. Hisoka’s thoughts drifted back to how soft those tender lips had felt on his cheek, still feeling the pale warmth of where the kiss had been. A peculiar sensation wormed its way inside of him, his heart beating a little faster as he continued to admire those lovely, tantalizing lips. The minuscule increase of his pulsating heart had not gone unnoticed by the magician, though he chose to ignore it, knowing that it would pass by. The pace returned to its natural rhythm after a few seconds of stillness as he hadn’t moved a single step from where he was, but the heartfelt desire remained.

He craved another kiss from Gon.

“I suppose you deserve a gift after keeping me entertained the whole night, ♥” Hisoka murmured, soft words coated in amorous affection as they went unheard to the unconscious boy. The gentle murmur blended in with the silence, drifting away with his exhalation. Lifting Gon higher in his arms, Hisoka tilted his head downward and placed a kiss on a bruise that was at the boy’s forehead. He settled there for a few seconds before pulling away, admiring the kissed mark that remained as he licked his lips in satisfaction.

♥♦♠♣

Hisoka exited the building while carrying Gon in his hands, strolling down the streets of Soufrabi. There were a few stars in the sky displayed as white specks under the dark hue. The streets were lined with food stalls and cardboard signs hung up with flashes of hanging light bulbs connected by wires. The sweet aroma of fresh, colorful fruits attracted some customers, with various vegetables and meat on display as well. Some shops were selling fish and displayed buckets of them, a few of which were still live and flopping as vendors tried to scoop them into a plastic bag for their patron. People walked through the center, busy sellers discussing transactions with potential customers on both sides of the pathway.

The magician walked past these unrefined shops without giving them much thought, instead focused on other players around him. There were other players who spared a quick glance in his direction, but immediately turned away when they felt the deadly bloodlust that he leaked in their direction. No doubt, there were more than likely a few underhanded players who would take advantage of the fact that Gon was passed out and vulnerable to being attacked by spell cards. Hisoka wasn’t too informed on the various spells that existed in the game, but he was aware enough that surely, for a game like this, there would be spell cards that could be cast to steal cards from unprepared players.

He wasn’t too keen on what kind of cards Gon had in his possession. Perhaps the boy had stumbled upon something in the game to defend himself from these malicious attacks. Nevertheless, Gon was lying vulnerable in his hands after pushing his body to extreme limits and Hisoka knew that the boy wouldn’t wake up for quite a while. After Gon forced his body to keep going all for the sake of playing an unnecessary game with Hisoka, a reckless act that rendered him into possibly being passed out for the entirety of the next day, carrying the boy back safely to his friends was the very least that the magician could do. Hisoka wasn’t too worried about Gon, though. Knowing Gon’s incredible recovery speed, he’d figure that the boy would only be out for twelve hours, perhaps even less.

This was a bit troubling, however. Hisoka didn’t have a single clue on the whereabouts of Gon’s friends, and he himself didn’t have any cards he could use to find them. As he contemplated on the possibility of staying with Gon for the time being until the boy woke up and would be able to go back to his friends on his own, someone stepped in front of them when he reached a quieter area of the city, away from the hectic shops and lively cheers. Seeing his path blocked, Hisoka looked up from Gon’s sleeping face to see a man holding a spell card out. The man’s hand fidgeted, desperate to keep his grip on the card.

“D-Drop the b-boy,” the man said, his voice shaking with terror. Hisoka was unfazed, although a bit amused that the man was bold enough to stand in his way despite the ominous aura he emitted. He was aware that the man wouldn’t last long, though. Fear was overtaking the man by the second and would eventually swallow him, reducing him into nothing more than a pitiful stuttering mess.

“What do you intend to do with him? ♦”

“T-That’s none of y-your business!”

Hisoka eyed the man in brief contemplation. “You plan on forcing him to give you his cards when he wakes up. ♠” The man’s legs nearly gave out, informing Hisoka that he’d hit the right mark. With his amusement growing, Hisoka stepped closer towards the man, locking him under his poisonous gaze as he emanated a repulsive bloodlust. The surrounding players who’d stopped in their tracks to watch the scene unfold sensed the nauseating aura and immediately evacuated from the area. Running as far as possible to rid themselves of the sickening shivers that traveled throughout their bodies, it left Hisoka alone with the man.

Cold eyes laced with toxin peered down at the quivering figure. “You severely underestimate him,” he said. The man made no response aside from the widening in his eyes as he realized what a sore mistake he made. “It’s quite a shame. I would allow him to fight you, but he’s currently,”- Hisoka gestured to Gon, who was still in a deep slumber in his arms- “occupied, you see.” With another step towards the terrified man, Hisoka’s expression became more venomous as he licked his lips. “Therefore, I will make you a proposition: allow me to be your opponent for tonight. ♥”

The man, ready to dash out of the scene, was impeded by a solitaire card edged against his neck. A smooth cut was formed at the base as a fresh stream of thick blood trickled down the spot from where the card was positioned. Petrified, the man couldn’t command his body to move under the intense pressure that was strangling his limbs, threatening to kill him if he continued to overstep his bounds. Hisoka’s movements had been fast, laying the unconscious Gon to sit upright against the side of the building before placing a Nen-infused card at the base of the man’s neck in the blink of an eye.

“Before you leave,” Hisoka dipped the card deeper into the wound, garnering a sharp cry from the man as more blood dribbled down his neck, “would you be so kind as to spare a Contact? ♦” The man, too broken to respond verbally, instead nodded slightly so as to not worsen the cut where the thin, knife-like weapon laid within dangerous proximity. “Good,” Hisoka purred, icy voice sending waves of terror down the man’s spine.

Returning the card he held in his hand into its slot and flipping to a specific page in his binder, the man’s hand trembled as he slowly reached out for the card and held it up to to the magician. Hisoka gave a sadistic smile, accepting the card that was offered to him before retracting the playing card that was situated between his fingers. In respect to the man’s courage to confront him, Hisoka withdrew his aura and set him free of the constricting pressure placed around his body. The man made an immediate run for it, not daring to ever look back.

With the spell card in his hand, Hisoka chanted, “ _Contact on_. Killua,” as he returned to Gon’s side and carried the boy bridal style in his arms once again. The call was picked up a second after he sent it. Hisoka’s lips curled upwards, knowing that the receiver probably expected it to be Gon, which is why it was answered so quickly.

“Gon?!” Killua asked.

“Would you like to take another guess? ♦”

“What the HEL-”

“Gon! Are you okay?!” a female voice interrupted, and Hisoka could envision the silver-haired boy being pushed away by a strong force.

“At the moment, his presence is with me,” Hisoka answered. “However, he won’t be able to speak for a while. ♠”

“Bastard! What did yo-” Killua’s voice was suddenly distant again, his muttering words pushed into the background.

“What happened to him?!” Bisky asked, concern growing in her voice.

“He passed out after training with me.”

“Oh, that’s all?” Bisky ditched the worried tone, letting out a haughty laugh as she shrugged the matter off without a second glance. Hisoka was amused by how swift Bisky’s demeanor changed, as they were both Transmuters, being fickle liars and all. “It seems that I was worried over nothing! See, I told you it was fine!” Bisky turned to Killua. “We didn’t need to waste one of those spell cards or whatever.”

“It’s called Magnetic Force or Accompany! And what the hell is wrong with you?! That’s plenty to be worried over!” Killua cut in again.

“Oh please,” she replied. “If Gon’s with Hisoka, then he’s probably safe. You did say that Hisoka’s strong, after all.”

“Are you STUPID?! Hisoka’s strong, but he’s also _dangerous!_ ” The two continued to rattle on to each other, completely ignoring the magician who was still on the other line. After two minutes of ear-splitting bickering with no concession from either side in sight, Hisoka, concerned of having his hearing deteriorate if he continued to listen any longer, decided to cut in their rambling. The call was also approaching the three-minute time limit of the spell card’s allowed duration, and he still hadn’t received any information concerning their location.

“As much as I would love to chat, I have other matters to tend to. ♣ Inform me of your current location and I will return Gon to you.”

“Tch, fine. Meet us at the Panorama Hotel,” Killua said, irritation evident in his voice as he was finally able to talk over Bisky without being interrupted or pestered. “It’s located in the eastern part of Soufrabi with a giant logo, you _can’t_ miss it.”

“I’ll be there momentarily.” Hisoka ended the call with a few seconds remaining and turned around with Gon in his arms, departing to the designated location.

♥♦♠♣

Hisoka stopped in front of the Panorama Hotel where two figures had been waiting for his presence. They seemed to be continuing their previous argument during the call, shouting and making such a loud racket that everyone had evacuated from the area. Killua was the first to break his attention away from the fight, diverting it to the magician that was carrying his friend. “Ah! Hisoka!” he called out, running to the older man. Killua tried to reach for Gon but Hisoka pulled away, lifting Gon closer to his chest. “Hey, what are you doing? Give him to me!”

“And why should I?”

“You-!”

“Oh, hand him over to me!” Bisky said. “I’ll summon Cookie-chan to help his body recover faster!”

Hisoka handed the sleeping Gon over into Bisky’s hands. The action only served to further piss off an already fuming Killua after he was rejected from being given Gon. Hisoka shot Killua a sly smirk, to which the silver-haired boy combated by returning an icy glare so cold that it could freeze Hell over. The magician ignored the holes that were being bore through his body as he turned around to leave in the direction he came from.

“You’re leaving already?” Bisky gasped, stopping Hisoka from leaving by grabbing him by the wrist with a strong hold that even the magician couldn’t escape from through physical means. She'd passed Gon over into Killua's hands to appease the vexed boy. “Won’t you please stay here with me?” Her red eyes sparkled with sweet glitter as she removed her clasp on Hisoka, lacing her fingers together in an attempt to imitate the beauty of a porcelain doll.

“Damn old ha-” A swift punch was delivered to Killua’s face, knocking him across the street and into the wall of a building. “OW!”

“Unfortunately, I have somewhere to be, ♥” Hisoka said, a playful smile on his face that only served to make Bisky squeal.

“What a shame.” Bisky then frowned in disappointment, wanting to spend time with the attractive man a bit longer. She quickly recovered, though, and retained her perfect doll-like appearance. “We’ll see you tomorrow, then?”

“But of course,” Hisoka replied. He cast one last look at the unconscious Gon in Killua’s hands before turning around to leave.

♥♦♠♣

Upon leaving Soufrabi and arriving at a dense forest in the outskirts of the city, Hisoka received a notification.

“A player has cast ‘Contact’ on you.” Knowing who it was, he accepted the the incoming call.

“Hisoka! Have you found the Nen exorcist yet?”

“I haven’t,” he answered.

“Damnit! What have you been doing this whole time?!” Nobunaga was pissed, wanting to get their deal done and over with. They required the magician’s help in searching for a Nen exorcist to expel the chain embedded in Chrollo’s heart as none of the Troupe members could make contact with their leader, as per the rules the chain user stated with his attack.

“I have no intention of telling you. Learn to be patient. ♣”

“Tch, we’ll have to look for him on our own then,” Phinks spoke in Nobunaga’s stead, the swordsman most likely being held back by other members of the Troupe from throwing a fit. The call was ended soon after. Hisoka chuckled and summoned his book away, continuing to walk into the woods. Bringing out an Ace of Spades, he dragged his tongue up the plastic material and licked the corner of the card, his thoughts lingering on a tantalizing desire.

Only one thing was on his mind.

_I look forward to our date, Gon. ♥_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading my story! I really hope I didn't make Gon or Hisoka OOC considering the events that I wrote in. I tried my best to write how I think they would react in these situations. I hope it wasn't that OOC, especially with Hisoka, but it was a bit hard writing him at some parts and I wanted to try to humanizing him, even if it was just a little. Hopefully there weren't too many typos and I didn't bore you with too much explaining in certain parts of my fic.


	2. The × Second × Request

“You did WHAT?!”

“Relax, Killua. It’s just a date.” Gon reassured him with a smile. Killua’s voice didn’t get lower. In fact, it only got louder.

“What the hell?! A date with Hisoka of all people? Do you _any_ idea what you’re getting yourself into?” He rammed a finger against Gon’s head, just to make sure Gon still even had one. “This is _Hisoka_ we’re talking about here, not your aunt or whoever!”

“Yeah, I know.” Gon nodded, blinking his innocent eyes.

Killua let out a pained groan of frustration as he pulled at his hair. “Clearly, you _don’t_ know! What did he do to you? I knew something was weird on that day he carried you back to us. Did he inject something in your body?” Killua grabbed Gon by the collar and shook him rapidly. “Answer me, Gon!”

“Killua! Stop! I’m getting dizzy!” He tried to remove the hands that were tugging him back and forth but they refused to move.

“Good! I don’t care if you’re dizzy as long as whatever demon that’s possessing you leaves! Shit, should I electrocute some sense into that midget overheating brain of yours?!”

“Stop that!” Bisky demanded, sending a swift chop on Killua’s head.

“Ow!” His hands shot up to where he was hit, rubbing his head to ease the stinging pain. Gon was finally relieved of Killua’s wrath, for it was now directed towards Bisky. “What the hell was that for?!”

“For harassing Gon like that. I’m the only one who’s allowed to do that.”

“Oh yeah? Says who?!”

“Says _me!_ I’m your teacher after all!”

“I don’t take orders from ol-”

“I dare you to finish that sentence.” Bisky already had her hand balled into a fist. Killua’s eyes caught that and he swallowed his next words, not wanting to get his ass handed to him a second time.

“Hey, Bisky,” Gon said. She turned to face him. “Can I go? It’s just for today,” he begged, placing his hands together in his request for permission.

“Hmm, let’s see…”

On the opposite end, Killua begged that the answer would be no. If, by some miraculous stroke of luck, Bisky actually said no, he swore to never refer to her as an old hag again. Hell, he would even be so willing as to get on one knee and treat her like some royal princess from some far ass kingdom in the middle of nowhere. He just needed to hear that _one god damn precious word_ and Bisky would gain all respect he’d ever have for her for the rest of his life.

Please. SAY NO.

“Yes, of course you can go! After all, Hisoka was so nice to help bring you back to us on that night.” She practically drooled talking about Hisoka.

_GOD DAMNIT!_

“Awesome! Thanks! I promise I’ll train hard the next few weeks to make up for this.” Gon rejoiced. “Okay, I better get going. I don’t want to show up for the date late.” He dusted his clothes and gave Killua and Bisky a parting wave.

Bisky gave an approving nod. “Have fun!”

Gon used a spell card and his body became covered in a bright light that flew in the sky, transporting him to his destination. As Bisky witnessed his departure, she grabbed Killua by the back of his shirt.

“And just where do you think you’re going?”

Shit.

She glared at him. “You are _not_ stalking them on their date. We’re going to do some Transmutation training today. You’ve been practically begging me to do some Transmuter practice these past few days, after all.”

Killua groaned, letting himself fall onto the ground as a sign of defeat. “Fine!”

Bisky’s eyes softened as she adjusted her dress with grace and sat on a boulder next to him. “We still have to think of a plan on defeating Genthru,” she said, tracing the curl of her ponytail. Killua gave a distracted grunt, acknowledging her words but he was still too busy thinking about Gon.

Her tone then became serious, seizing Killua’s full attention. “I’m counting on you on this one. I let Gon go on the date because I can tell he’s been having trouble concentrating in his training lately. It’ll be hard for him to train without a clear mind.”

“Yeah, I know.” Killua finally turned to face her after he’d been mumbling curses to himself under his breath. “Was it really a good idea to have him jump to level five training?”

Bisky shrugged. “It’s all or nothing. The best I can do is let him relieve some of his stress today. The next two weeks will be packed with training and minimal rest. You two are far too behind Genthru’s level to be able to even touch him in direct combat.”

“Tch, alright.” Killua’s mood was still damp as he turned the other way and went back to sulking.

“Come now, it won’t be that bad. I’m sure Gon will be fine. He can handle himself.”

“I’m _not_ worried about him!”

“Oh? That’s not what the blush on your face says.” How Bisky could even see his blush when he had his face turned away from her, he didn’t know. If anything, it only served to add to his list of things that made Bisky scary as hell to him.

“Argh, shut up! Let’s just start training already,” he said, wanting to cool off his embarrassment. After hopping up to the ground, he was already running to their training destination.

Bisky tsked as she followed his trail. “Always the impatient one.”

~♥️♣️♦️♠️~

Landing near a city he’d visited before, Gon was greeted by the sight of a large heart with a smiley face towering above in the sky. In front of him was the entrance to the city, with an arched sign hanging above, bold pink letters shining through like glitter.

_Welcome to The City of Love._

Stepping past the entrance, Gon’s eyes traveled around for the sight of his supposed partner for the date. A shove was at his side and his attention darted to whoever it was that caused the source of said discomfort.

“Hey! Watch where you’re going! Don’t just stand there clueless!” The woman pouted as she folded her arms expectantly.

“Um… sorry?” Gon said, with a bit of a more questioning tone at the end because he wasn’t sure if it was really his fault that they made contact. “Are you okay?” he asked, just to make sure.

“I-Idiot!”

Did… did she just call him an idiot? What did he even do to get such a response? Should he have not asked about her well-being?

“Are you okay?” he asked again, confused. “I didn’t mean to bump into you.”

“W-Whatever! Just don’t do it again, okay?!” The woman had an overarching blush on her cheeks, reaching all the way to the tips of her ears. She ran past Gon on the way to somewhere, moving at a fast pace that was probably the cause of their initial bump.

“She likes you a lot. ♥️”

Gon’s eyes widened, alarmed by the sudden voice behind him. The hairs on the back of his neck became raised. He whirled his head around by instinct, preparing to jump away and create some distance before he realized who it was. “Hisoka?”

Hisoka greeted him, waving a card between his fingers, unfazed at Gon’s defensive stance.

“What do you mean she likes me?” Gon’s head turned in the direction of the fleeing woman who was now out of his sight. “It looked like she was really upset with me there…” A frown was on Gon’s face.

“That’s simply her way of expressing affection for you. ♠️”

“Really?” Gon eyed him with confusion. “She called me an idiot.”

“Apply the opposite meaning to her words. Those are the true meanings she’s attempting to convey, ♣️” Hisoka explained.

Oh. Now things started to make sense. “That’s kinda weird though, isn’t it?” Gon asked. “I thought she was really angry with me and I couldn’t figure out why.”

“Indeed, it’s quite strange. People like her aren’t my type.”

Gon tilted his head to the side. “Then what _is_ your type?”

Now Hisoka smirked. “Someone who’s straightforward and direct. ♥️ I like it when he displays an inability to give up or back down from challenges. ♦️”

Huh. That was an _awfully_ specific way of describing a type. And it was a male? Gon shook the thought off, not wanting to nosy into Hisoka’s preferences. He’d already seen Hisoka’s... eccentric tastes in other things. Some things were better off left unexplored.

“How long have you been here?” Gon asked.

“The whole time. I’ve been watching you since you stepped foot in the city. ♣️”

Gon narrowed his eyes. How did he not notice an aura as distinctive as Hisoka’s? Then it hit him. Hisoka must’ve used Zetsu to hide from him, which was why he was surprised when he suddenly sensed that aura behind him!

“Did I make you wait long then?”

“No.” Hisoka waved his hand. “Don’t worry over such pointless things. ♠️”

There was worry ready to flood Gon’s voice. “But I would feel bad if I made you wait too long.”

Hisoka mused over the persisting Gon. “As I’ve said, such things don’t bother me. ♦️” He held a hand out towards Gon, exuding confidence with a smirk. “What matters is that you showed up. Isn’t that right? ♥️”

“I guess...” Gon shrugged before meeting Hisoka in the eye. He smiled, realizing that Hisoka had been trying to reassure him. “Let’s go walk around,” he said, almost taking Hisoka’s hand before he saw the bandages around them. “Ah, sorry! I forgot, it must hurt to use your fingers, right?”

“Perhaps,” came the short reply.

Gon frowned at the sight, reaching to lightly grab one of Hisoka’s hands and get a closer look at it. Observing it, Hisoka didn’t even flinch at the movement, but Gon expected that he was just good at tolerating pain. “You broke all ten fingers,” he said. Hisoka must’ve still been in much pain. Broken fingers usually healed in two weeks for Gon and he knew that was with his exceptional recovery time. It’d only been almost a week since their dodgeball match.

“Does it upset you? ♠️”

“Well, yeah. You didn’t have to break them!” his voice a bit raised. Gon’s thumbs roamed over Hisoka’s hand, caressing them, and gently nudging the palm in a small massage. Then, his voice lowered. “You didn’t have to rally the last throw back at Razor.”

Hisoka let his hand remain in Gon’s care. “You desired a flawless victory. ♦️ I merely granted that wish. ♣️”

It was true. He was happy and thankful for Hisoka’s actions during the dodgeball match. Though Hisoka wasn’t exactly a good person, he went out of his way to help Gon during his progression on Greed Island. But… “At the price of all ten fingers?”

“You’ve seen me experience worse before, haven’t you? ♠️”

Gon nodded. He still remembered the time Kastro cut off Hisoka’s arm, but it seemingly reattached like magic. “Even so,” Gon said, “that doesn’t mean you’re not in a lot of pain!”

A small hum came from Hisoka, playful, almost. “I wonder about that. ♦️”

Gon figured it was just Hisoka’s way of not wanting to express weakness. He never did. “Here, I’ll hold you like this.” He demonstrated by holding Hisoka by the wrist, not quite able to encircle it entirely as his hand was too small. At least this way, he wouldn’t have to make contact with Hisoka’s fingers and possibly cause him unnecessary pain.

They walked past crowds of people who were probably programmed characters designed to act out a part in the city. And yet none of them made any move on the two. Not even a single glance in their direction as they roamed the streets lined with pastel sidewalks and buildings. The city sprouted the color of love. There were several pink and red heart balloons tied to the infrastructure in their surroundings, welling up the city in a rosy color. The scent of a sweet flavor was all around the city, as if oxygen was perfume, with every block containing a pleasant floral fragrance. In some streets, there was a faint scent of chocolate mixed in that Gon could sniff out.

~♥️♣️♦️♠️~

Hisoka found his wrist still wrapped around by Gon’s hand as he was guided through long narrow pathways that made it seem like they were supposed to get close and physical with each other just to make it through. It was easy for Gon to fit, but the same couldn’t be said for Hisoka. The layout was unpleasant for him, being sandwiched between the walls and only saved by his flexibility. He resisted the rising urge to slice the annoying walls away with his cards. His discomfort was made up for by how Gon would come to a stop every so often, look back to check up on him, ask him if he was okay, then continue walking on his merry way. However, Gon eventually felt way too bad for him, forcing the both of them to walk on the rooftops of the buildings instead to make their way through.

“I didn’t say I was uncomfortable, ♠️” Hisoka said, pleased to have gotten out of those ridiculously claustrophobic spaces but disappointed at the now increased distance between him and Gon.

“I could tell! You don’t have to keep quiet about it.”

Hisoka was slightly intrigued by Gon’s keen perception. When was he ever not fascinated by him? “The view is prettier from above. ♥️” Gon made a slight sound of agreement.

Finally reaching the end of the narrow path, it opened up to what seemed to be the city square, and they hopped down to ground level. A large fountain in the middle that sprang up into a dazzling heart, backed up by lights installed under the fountain to create the illusion of pink water. Cherry blossom trees lined up in a straight pathway. The falling petals danced by the rose breezing wind. It was odd to see trees blooming in the middle of a winter, but there wasn’t anything impossible when designing a game like this.

~♥️♣️♦️♠️~

The two eventually stopped in front of a restaurant with hearts tacked on for decoration with extensions of transparent glass windows. Inside, the buzz and chatter of people dining in the area rang. Gon dragged Hisoka to the front desk, where an NPC in the form of an anthropomorphic dog regarded them with welcoming arms. Its appearance reminded Gon of the Cat Diner NPCs from when he ate spaghetti with Killua. Gon indicated his reservation for two, holding up two fingers for assured effect, though it wasn’t necessary.

The NPC nodded, going through the records to confirm it, before giving the OK gesture to one of the other NPCs on standby. The NPC, another similar looking dog but a different color, led them to their table and gave a bow. It was an awkward sight, apparently even for Hisoka. Gon sank right into the soft cushion of the seat while Hisoka was more elegant in his seating, crossing a leg over the other. Passing out the menus that were tucked under its arm, the NPC awaited to take their orders for drinks.

Gon’s hands darted for the menu the instant it was on the table, eyes scanning over the list of beverages available. Since it’d been cold today, he was feeling up for some hot chocolate. He almost drooled at the picture of the milky chocolatey drink displayed in the confines of the menu. Across from Gon, Hisoka lazily looked over the menu and ordered a lemonade. The NPC left afterwards to get their drinks.

Gon eagerly flipped through pages of the menu, looking down the selection of foods one by one. In actuality, he was just looking at the pictures displayed and then he judged which one looked most delicious to eat by the end. That was what he’d always do with Killua whenever they went to dine at a restaurant. They would end up ordering the weirdest dishes on the menu, but the meals would never disappoint their taste buds. Then, Gon remembered that he was on a date and should be courteous to the other person.

“What do you want to eat?” he asked, eyes barely peeking over the top of the menu.

“I’ll have what you decide to have. ♥️”

Gon was troubled. Killua would always be upfront in choosing what he wanted to eat. He didn’t know how to take Hisoka’s answer, so he decided to keep trying. “But isn’t there something you really want to try?”

“No.”

Gon narrowed his eyes, ready to fight. “You don’t even have the menu open.”

“There’s no need for it to be open if I’m ordering what you choose to order. ♦️” Hisoka propped an elbow up on the table, his chin resting on his hand, looking ever so graceful as usual.

This was not going well for Gon. He wanted to see what kind of foods Hisoka might like as a way to learn more about him, but Hisoka refused to answer. An idea popped in his mind and Gon was suddenly lifted from his predicament.

“I’ll have whatever you’re ordering then!” Gon declared, a smile on his face. “So you choose what to eat.” Closing the menu in his hands, he slid it across the table in Hisoka’s direction to emphasize his intentions despite the other menu being usable.

Hisoka’s gaze intensified. Placing his hand on the cover of the menu, Hisoka pushed it back, a playful smirk etched on his face. “No, _you_ pick a dish. What I desire is whatever you wish to have for our meal. ♥️”

“Yeah, I know! And what _I’m_ saying is that _I_ want what _you_ want for lunch.” Gon slid the menu back to Hisoka.

And Hisoka sent it straight back in Gon’s direction. “Then I suggest you pick a meal, because that’s what I’ll be wanting. ♣️”

Why was Hisoka being so damn stubborn about this? Well, he was, too, but—wait, _no!_ Gon’s hand curled into a fist as he placed it against the menu, preventing it from closing its distance to him even more. “Nope! _You_ pick becau-”

A cough interrupted their heated discussion and Gon turned to face the source of said intervention. Everyone was staring at them. He only realized how loud he’d been and sheepishly said a quick apology to the other diners.

“So what will you have? ♦️” Hisoka asked. With a smirk smeared on his face, he tapped on the menu that was now completely at Gon’s side of the table they shared.

Gon’s glare was enough to kill a puppy.

The NPC then returned with their drinks, setting them down on the table. It awaited to take their orders. Grabbing the menu with more force than necessary and being more dramatic than he really should be, Gon flipped through it, eyeing all the pretty pictures of the dishes. They all looked so good. But he didn’t know which one to get and he wasn’t sure what Hisoka would enjoy. Gon’s brows were furrowed, absorbed in the task of searching through the menu.

“Can you at least tell me what you wanna eat?” Gon asked with a bit of a sigh.

“Why do you want me to order so badly? ♣️” Hisoka’s words were smooth and natural. Paired with his inherently charismatic charm, Gon’s focus became directed towards answering the question Hisoka asked.

“Because I wanna see what kind of foods you like!” Damn it! Gon realized too late that he had just let Hisoka dodge his question.

Hisoka made his next move before letting Gon make another confrontation. “If you wanted to know, you simply could have asked and spared us from creating a scene in the restaurant. ♥️”

“Okay, fine!” Gon pouted, settling down against the back of his seat. “Then tell me what kind of foods you like.”

“I’m under no obligation to answer. ♠️”

“What? You _just_ said I could ask you about it!”

There was an annoying smirk on Hisoka’s face that Gon was eager to wipe off. “I do believe I said you could ask, but I don’t recall saying I would give an answer. ♥️”

Gon groaned at Hisoka’s antics. He was impossible to deal with. Instead, Gon went back to flipping through the menu with a bit of a grumble.

After a while, Hisoka suddenly spoke up. “Why don’t you try this one? ♣️” he offered. His bandaged fingers were placed on a particular dish.

Wait. Gon paused in his flipping. Was Hisoka actually suggesting a particular food to order? Gon eyed him suspiciously, but Hisoka retained a natural demeanor. Either Hisoka was messing around with him or… he actually wanted to try it?

Gon nodded absentmindedly. “Sure! I’ve never tried it before.” It looked good anyway and Gon wasn’t exactly a picky eater.

“Perfect. ♥️”

Gon informed the NPC of what they wanted to eat and the NPC left shortly after. He stared at Hisoka, who was currently playing with his lemonade. Hisoka was using the straw to fiddle with the ice cubes at the bottom of the glass. It seemed like he hadn’t even taken a sip of his drink yet.

~♥️♣️♦️♠️~

Hisoka knew he was being watched. “What’s wrong? ♠️” he asked.

“Can I try some of that?” Gon gestured to the lemonade.

Hisoka wasn’t against the question. “Sure. Allow me to taste yours in return, then. ♥️”

Gon nodded and they switched their drinks around, taking a sip of what the other ordered. The hot chocolate was awfully sweet, though the sweetness wasn’t powerful enough to make Hisoka dislike the flavor. Actually, it was a bit “sweet” considering that he could taste some of Gon’s saliva from the top of the straw. Hisoka made sure to take a loooong sip of the hot chocolate.

Across from Hisoka, Gon’s nose crinkled as he cringed at the sour taste. Pulling the straw out of his mouth, he swallowed the rest of the juice before licking his lips. “Sour!” he complained, gesturing for the hot chocolate. Hisoka handed it back to him. Gon discarded the straw, quickly drowning his mouth in the sugary flavor, presumably to rid of the aftertaste of the lemonade.

“A shame. ♠️ I’m quite partial to the flavor, ♦️” Hisoka mumbled, the words rolling off his tongue. Taking back the lemonade, he finally took the first sip of the drink he ordered for himself after the straw became coated with Gon’s saliva. Hisoka was fairly pleased at that.

Gon blinked, a smile on his face after he removed the glass from his mouth. The tension in his body disappeared. “I like spicy,” he said. “Mito-san is really good at cooking. If you come to Whale Island one day, I’ll definitely share of her food some with you!”

Hisoka hummed. “I suppose I’ll take you up on that offer. ♥️” Twirling the straw in his lemonade, he inquired, “What plans do you have after this meal? ♦️”

Gon’s smile grew, with a finger held up to his lips. “It’s a secret.”

“Hmm. Is that so? ♣️” He smirked at Gon’s secrecy. But he wasn’t disappointed. Rather, the fact that Gon had to keep it a secret surely meant it would be an amusing experience. Gon wasn’t the type to keep secrets and was quite the gullible child. Hisoka was certain he could get Gon to spill a few things if he truly wanted to, but he decided to not push it further. The surprise would only be more enjoyable if he didn’t expect it.

“Hey, Hisoka.”

“Hmm?”

“You don’t have anywhere to be today, right?”

“No, I don’t. ♥️” Hisoka’s smile practically screamed mischief. “You will have all of me to yourself for the entirety of today, ♥️” he purred.

“Oh, okay. Great!” Gon was completely unaware of the tone of Hisoka’s voice and the implications behind his words. Hisoka was amused, finding the oblivious nature to be endearing.

The NPC returned with their order, placing two dishes on the table. It seemed to be a stew consisting of braised beef, in red wine from what Hisoka could tell, and a variety of vegetables mixed in. Immediately, Gon already began hacking away it, putting a spoonful in his mouth every second. Hisoka watched in entertainment.

“Wow! It’s really good!” Gon gushed. “Aren’t you gonna eat some too?” He shoved some more meat into his mouth. “Oh, wait, you can’t use your hands.” Swallowing the food in his mouth, he picked up Hisoka’s unused utensils. “Here,” Gon gathered some meat and vegetables into the spoon, “I’ll feed you.”

Hisoka’s eyes widened for a moment before turning back to their original state. His smirk grew wider, the tip of his fingers placed against his smiling lips. “Are you sure? ♦️”

“Yeah, of course! You helped us win back then so I’m paying back the debt.” Gon didn’t like owing anyone _anything_. “Hurry up and eat it before it gets cold. It tastes best when it’s still warm! Say ‘ahh!’” he urged, emitting possibly the most adorable sound Hisoka had ever heard in his life.

Hisoka chuckled. “No need to rush me, ♥️” he said before opening his mouth and imitating the sound that Gon just made, though of course not as adorable. Satisfied, Gon brought the spoon near Hisoka’s mouth, his free hand under in case the sauce would dip onto the table. Hisoka took a bite of it, leaving the spoon in a state of pure silver. He swallowed the food quickly without getting a single smudge of sauce anywhere on his face.

Contrary to him, Gon’s lips were dipped in the seasoned sauce that made him look all the more adorable. They were simply _begging_ Hisoka to be licked clean, but he restrained himself from making a move. Instead, he tapped on his own lips to indicate Gon of his appearance. Gon muttered a “thanks” and licked his lips, padding a napkin against them, too, for good measure.

“See, isn’t it good?” Gon asked.

“Indeed. The taste is exquisite. ♥️”

Gon smiled in response.

They continued on like this, Hisoka allowing himself to be spoon fed. Gon would take a bite for himself and then feed the next small portion to Hisoka. Eventually, they both finished their plates.

~♥️♣️♦️♠️~

“Can you wait here for a minute?” Gon asked. They were still in the restaurant and were in the middle of leaving before Gon stopped walking.

“Hmm? ♦️ Sure.”

“Thanks! I wanna try this thing out,” Gon said. He pointed at something that caught his interest. A claw machine. They went up to the machine, a large container of plushies visible behind the transparent glass. Gon summoned his book and retrieved a 100 Jenny card.

“Mm,” Gon tilted his head with curiosity. “I think you put it here?” He inserted the card into what seemed to be its respective slot. The card was sucked into the slot as a few bright letters appeared on the pad of the machine. Reading off of what it said, Gon said, “Only one try, huh?”

The game would only last a minute according to what the text said. It wouldn’t take too long at all then. Gon smiled. There was a blue whale plushie that caught his eye and he _really_ wanted to get that one! It reminded him of Whale Island and Mito-san. He planned to get that and send it to her as a gift later.

The game started and Gon used the joypad to control the claw’s location. He edged it above the point where his desired treasure lay. Pressing the button, the claw made its descent down to pick up the object.

“Yes! I got it!” Gon exclaimed, fists curled in excitement.

Or… so he thought.

The claw went back up just barely missing the whale, instead ascending empty-handed, depositing nothing into the slot, and returning to its original position at the start of the game.

“Oh.” Well, it was his first try. He’d get it the next one. He was close, anyway. What could a few more tries hurt? He turned around to face Hisoka, acting sheepish as he scratched his head. “Sorry! I really want this thing so I’m just gonna do a few more tries. I promise it won’t take long!”

“Go ahead. ♣️” Hisoka leaned against the wall as he brought out his usual deck of cards to shuffle.

~♥️♣️♦️♠️~

Hisoka knew full well that it would take long.

He hit the right mark because thirty minutes later, he was still located in the _exact_ same spot as he was thirty minutes before. He was sitting on the floor now, working on a card tower. There were people waiting in line, watching, entertained by Hisoka’s evergrowing tower as there was nothing else to keep their boredom in check.

“Umm, sir…” One of the employees came up to Gon. “We’ve received complaints that you’ve been holding up the line for half an hour now. We request that you move to the back of the line and wait for your next turn. Otherwise, we will require you to leave the premises.”

But Gon wasn’t listening. “One last time, okay? Please! I promise this will be the last try!” He showed them the infamous puppy eyes.

“You said that ten minutes ago, ♠️” Hisoka added.

Gon pouted.

The employee couldn’t resist seeing Gon in that state. “Er, very well. But this will absolutely be the last.”

Gon immediately perked up at that. “Yes! I’m definitely gonna get it this time!” He inserted another 100 Jenny.

At that moment, Hisoka knocked down his card tower, relishing in its collapse before he stood up from his spot. He was pleased to see what he’d worked so hard to construct be knocked down by his very hands so easily. His audience, on the other hand, cast him strange and concerned looks at his deliberate attempt to ruin what he’d been working on and what they’d been observing for the past half hour.

“Hisoka?”

He went behind him, placing his hands over Gon’s. The hands were awfully small compared to his. He guided Gon’s hands with the controls, working the joypad to do as he commanded. Pressing the button, the claw made its descent.

“W-Wait! That’s not where the one I want is!”

Hisoka lowered his head and shushed him by the ear. “Be patient, ♥️” he whispered.

A string was firmly attached by the claw. It wouldn’t drop. The object was hidden under stacks of numerous other plushies above it and it knocked them out of its way as the claw ascended, revealing a larger size of the whale plushie Gon had originally been going for. The claw trekked over to the designated slot where it deposited the plushie, making its way down through the box where Gon immediately pulled it out of.

“Wow! That’s so cool!” Gon whipped around to face Hisoka, featuring a wide grin on his face. “How did you know it was hidden there?”

“It was visible from the side, ♣️” Hisoka said. He pointed to the spot where he was sitting next to the claw machine.

“But how did you get it with the claw too? It was hidden under so many of them!” Gon’s eyes were shining with happiness, truly like the child he was as he smoothed his hand over the plushie to pet it. How adorable.

“It’s a secret, ♥️” Hisoka teased. Bungee Gum was a very flexible technique.

Gon pouted at the response but let it slide. Then his smile shifted to a frown. “You used your hands just now!”

Hisoka stared at him. “And?”

“They’re still healing, aren’t they?” Gon grabbed Hisoka by the wrist to caress his injured hand. “I can’t believe you did that! Don’t they hurt a lot?”

“There’s no need for you to concern yourself with that. ♠️”

Gon’s frown only grew at Hisoka’s attempt to brush it off. “Yes there is! You put yourself through pain just because I was being selfish!”

Hisoka smirked. “So you’re aware of your actions and consistently claiming it would be the ‘last try’ despite it never being true? ♣️”

“Yeah, okay!”

“Hmm.” He lifted Gon’s chin up so their eyes would meet. “You received what you wanted, didn’t you? ♥️” he asked. Gon nodded but the frown remained. “That’s all I care about. Nothing more. ♥️”

Gon stared at Hisoka, taken aback. His eyes trailed down to the plushie in his hand, pondering over it for a few seconds, then pushed it against Hisoka. “Then take this. You’re the one who got it.”

Hisoka chuckled at Gon’s selfless action after putting him through such selfishness. “I acquired it for you. You keep the toy. ♥️”

“But-”

Hisoka tousled Gon’s hair to silence him. The hair was soft despite its spiky appearance. “Consider it a gift from a friend. ♣️”

“Huh? We’re friends?” Gon looked confused out of his mind.

“Let me rephrase that. Consider it a gift from your _date._ ♥️” Hisoka smirked. “Does that sound more to your liking? ♦️”

“Erm, I guess…”

“Good. Shall we take our leave now? ♦️ I believe we’ve overstayed our welcome here long enough. ♠️” Hisoka gestured to the employee and line that had been waiting to get their turn at the claw machine. Gon nodded and trailed behind the already moving Hisoka.

“Hisoka! Wait up!” Gon called from behind. Hisoka turned around to meet him face-to-face, a perturbed look on his face. “Um, Mr. Whale wants to thank you too for getting him out of the machine, so… here!” Gon raised himself up on his tippy-toes, bringing the plushie in his hand up to Hisoka. The tip of the plushie’s fluffy cotton-sewn mouth met with Hisoka’s lips. “Chu!” Gon mimicked.

Hisoka’s eyes widened at the gesture, leaving him utterly speechless.

“Thanks for giving it to me!” Gon said. A bright smile painted his face. Lowering the plushie from Hisoka, he squeezed it tightly in a hug.

Hisoka raised a hand to his mouth to hide the soft laugh that escaped. “You really are adorable. ♥️”

Gon cocked his head to the side at the response.

After the slip of some chuckles, Hisoka lowered his hand from his face. “You’re welcome, ♥️” he continued, composure as cool as usual despite his discreet laugh earlier.

Gon smiled at Hisoka. “Come on, let’s go!” He grabbed him and led him out of the restaurant. Once outside, he used an Accompany card to Antokiba. They landed near the outskirts of the city and ventured into the depths of the forest nearby.

“This way!” Gon called out, brimming with excitement. With a bit of impatience, he pulled rather harshly on Hisoka’s wrist, bringing him closer to the awaited spot. The amused Hisoka, with a level of physical strength many times greater than Gon, allowed himself to be dragged around like a leashed dog. Hisoka didn’t mind Gon’s actions, though if it had been anyone else, things would’ve been _very_ different. Beyond the leafy branches and bushes that obscured their view, a river was revealed.

~♥️♣️♦️♠️~

On the river sat a kayak that quietly rowed back and forth by the push of the stream but didn’t budge from its spot as it was tied to a log a few feet away from the river. Gon ushered Hisoka to get seated first as he followed after. The kayak wasn’t all that big and was the only one available for rental that Gon could find on such a short notice. Thus, the two found themselves squeezed together as Hisoka sat with one knee up. With both of Gon’s knees up, the tip of his boots pressed against Hisoka’s crossed leg.

“Just a sec,” Gon said. He reached for something in his backpack. Pulling out a pocket knife, he sliced the rope that was tied to the kayak. Immediately upon being freed, the kayak was pushed by the force of the stream and began to move in the direction of the current. The riverstream was gentle and did not rush the ride.

Gon eagerly pointed out various fauna they passed by as the boat trudged through the calm waters. Hisoka listened to him intently. After Gon was done pointing out one flower, he went right onto the next. He recognized a lot of them from his travels in the mountains on Whale Island, which Ging decidedly implemented, but there were also plenty that he’d never seen before. Joy and excitement filled his heart. There was still so much out there in the world to explore.

“Oh!” Gon pulled at the leaves of a tree that branched over the river, just barely touching the tip of Hisoka’s hair as the boat smoothly went under it. Gon uncurled his fingers, revealing two leaves in his hand, giving one of them to Hisoka. “Here,” Gon said. “Do you know what these are?”

Hisoka’s brows raised as his interest was certainly piqued now. “I don’t. ♠️” He smoothed his thumb up and down the crease of the lush leaf in his hand. It was shaped in an odd way, different from a normal leaf.

“They’re called leaf flutes. They’re pretty rare, I’ve only seen them grow in certain places.” A smile bloomed on Gon’s face. “Okay, watch this.” Placing the frail leaf up to his lips, Gon blew against it as a soft tune followed. By instinct, he played the lullaby that Mito-san would usually sing him to sleep when he was little. The notes were still clear in his mind as he projected it onto the leaf.

Listening to the sweet tune, Hisoka closed his eyes momentarily and savored the song. As Gon finished the notes, he retracted the leaf from his mouth.

“Splendid, ♥️” Hisoka commended. “Where did you learn to perform such a feat? ♣️”

“Kite taught me how to.” Gon began to tell the story of how he and Kite met in the forest, when the esteemed Hunter saved him from the attack of a Foxbear Mother. “He said that a lot of animals are attracted to the sound. It helps to calm them down if they get anxious from something.” He smiled, the fond memories coming back to him. “I used to play all the time for Kon.” Gon paused, gesturing to the leaf in Hisoka’s hands. He was going to suggest Hisoka to try it out as well before he remembered the bandages. “Oh, right...”

“I don’t mind. ♠️” Without waiting for Gon’s inevitable protests, Hisoka imitated Gon’s earlier action and lifted the leaf to his mouth. With a bit of a whistle, a dreadful screech emitted from it, one surely enough to be the equivalent of nails scratching against a chalkboard. Gon, unable to resist, released a series of lighthearted chuckles, which then elevated into uncontrollable laughs. First, from seeing Hisoka be utterly terrible at something for once, and second, the idea that Gon was finally better at Hisoka on something. Several fights and bickering conversations later, the one thing he upstaged Hisoka at was _leaf fluting_.

Nonetheless, this only served to make Gon want to teach Hisoka even further. Witnessing Hisoka’s resolve to learn, Gon decided to drop his objections concerning the injured hands. Hisoka had taught him many things, even during their one-sided matches where Gon struggled to keep up with his speed, stamina, and prowess. For once, it was the other way around and even if it was a technique as minor and possibly useless to Hisoka as this, it was still a small victory in Gon’s eyes.

“Here,” Gon offered. “I’ll teach you how to do it.” Hisoka gave a slight nod, letting Gon carry the conversation with his lesson. “Hold it kinda like this. See?” Gon held the leaf up to his lips, poised so naturally in the way his arm was positioned. Hisoka imitated him, bringing the leaf up as well.

Gon nodded, approving of Hisoka’s stance. “Now blow gently. Just let some air out, don’t try to force it out too much.” And he blew into the leaf, letting out a sweet note, being a complete natural at this.

Hisoka said nothing but intently observed him. Imitating Gon to the best of his abilities, he produced a sound.

~♥️♣️♦️♠️~

Hisoka nearly cringed.

Gon’s sole reaction to the sound was a confounded blink of his eyes and a quiet “Eh?”

The sound came out _horrid._ Worse than before. Gon couldn’t even comprehend how. Neither did Hisoka.

_“_ Er,” Gon quickly recovered from his state of shock, “don’t feel too down about it!” He attempted to cheer up Hisoka, who was inwardly sulking. “It’s your first time! It took me a while to get the hang of it too.”

There was a sullen look on Hisoka’s face, confused at how he could have possibly messed it up that badly. “I dislike this, ♠️” he stated. Usually, he was able to imitate others by only seeing it once. That had been all the cases so far.

“No, no!” Gon said, shaking his head and hands. “Trust me, you’ll be able to do it. Let’s practice some more.”

There was a bit of hesitation in Hisoka’s words but he acquiesced anyway, as this was Gon and he couldn’t find a reason to refuse.

“Follow my lead,” Gon said. “Or, well, you can do your own tune too. Whatever you want!” he added with a smile.

They continued practicing. Hisoka still breathed out awful notes like that of a dying animal, wheezing its last breaths. But then, eventually, the raw and twisted, out of tune notes coming from Hisoka’s end started to disappear, unwinding into musical notes that matched Gon’s pace. The notes were sweet and mellow and now, they were producing harmonious sounds, mixing and improvising, creating a new melody that transcended the one that Gon had originally been going off of. They switched leads every so often, with the other supporting the main tune until it was time to change roles again.

The music moved like smooth ripples on water. Birds, butterflies, insects—they all came to listen. Their flowing wings were quiet, with silky flutters as they followed the soothing music that echoed throughout the forest like a lullaby that kept one on the bridge between dream and reality. The insects produced a soft glow in the midst of the enshrouding forest, illuminating the area. It went on like this for a while. Time passed as the first signs of evening came. The two composers were still lost in their own creation.

Eventually, the kayak reached the end of its journey as it met with the pier. The water still rocked it back and forth like a cradle, but it didn’t move. Their music came to an end shortly thereafter.

~♥️♣️♦️♠️~

Gon clapped in excitement, for the both of them, with shining eyes. “See! I knew you could do it!”

Hisoka’s lips slowly turned into a small smile at the compliment. A genuine smile, devoid of any lies or deceit. “It was thanks to your help, ♥️” he said playfully.

Gon let out a soft laugh. “That sounds so unlike you.”

But really. Hisoka was amazing, Gon thought. Even though Hisoka performed worse than Gon had ever seen from anyone at first, he was able to adapt and learn quickly, until he was almost on the same level as Gon, who’d been practicing for years already. The change was unbelievable and Gon took only a small amount of pride in that he was Hisoka’s mentor, because the rest of it should’ve gone to Hisoka, who was amazingly talented.

With a smile, Gon urged Hisoka as he’d already jumped out of the kayak, tugging on Hisoka’s wrist and pulling him up and out as well. Hisoka dusted his clothes for a bit, pleased that they still seemed to be in good condition, before turning his attention back to Gon who was dragging him through the forest.

“I heard there was an event festival going on, so we should go check it out,” Gon said. Soon, the trees opened up to reveal Antokiba, with bright colorful lights not far from where they were. The entrance was glazed with lanterns.

Stalls lined up the pathways from both sides, each having a number of people attending them. Gon was eager to try out all of them. He’d never really attended a festival like this before. On Whale Island, festivals were usually celebrated with fish catching and the whole community would enjoy the feast. Here, there were lots of different activities he’d never seen im his life before. He wondered if Ging put these in because he’d witnessed them before on his travels. If so, Gon wanted to experience everything that Ging had to offer to him.

He pointed out to Hisoka one of the busier stalls that a lot of people seemed to crowd over for. Hisoka effortlessly slipped through the crowd unnoticed while Gon simply pardoned himself from the others. Both made their way up to the front, where an NPC was giving information.

“Whichever team catches the most fish will win the grand prize! The Mystery Pond Card!”

Gon’s ears perked up at the mention of limited event card. It was one that he didn’t have yet: number eight and S-rank. If he wanted to fill out his spellbook, he definitely needed to win!

“Hey,” Gon said. “Can I play?”

“Sure, kid. Just wait till the current round is over.”

In the meantime, Gon observed the players. It wasn’t an actual fish catching contest like he’d originally thought, where he’d need his fishing rod. It was a game of scooping fish with a paper net. Many of the players were despairing over the difficulty of the game and how easily the net broke. The fish seemed to swim right out of it. Few people even got one in their bowl. The crowd was amused by the efforts. When time was up, the NPC couldn’t declare a clear winner by the amount of players that could only manage one, which seemed to be happening every time.

He called for a new round of players to step up. “100 Jenny per try! You can keep scooping until your poi completely breaks or the time limit is up!”

“It looks fun!” Gon nudged Hisoka with an elbow, “We should try it out!”

Hisoka smirked. “Sure. ♥️”

Opening his spellbook, Gon retrieved a card to hand over to the NPC. Hisoka handed his own and they registered to be on the same team. Both of them received the necessary tools: only a poi and a bowl. It looked simple enough to handle. They gathered around the large pool of fish and waited for other contestants to fill up the spot. Gon observed the small fish darting around in the water. There were probably hundreds of them in the water, but they were so tiny and agile that it would be difficult to catch them.

The stall keeper shouted to indicate that time had started. Hands instantly rushed out, trying to secure at least a few fish before they scattered away from the sudden movement. A few participants’ poi already received a few holes in them from applying too much force into their strike. Gon had been fast and was able to get four fish, quickly dumping them into his bowl and moving on to find the next batch of targets. He concentrated on their movements and tried to predict where their paths would match so he could scoop multiple at the same time. Occasionally, he glanced over at Hisoka’s side when he could, comparing the amount in their buckets. Already, they both reached at least ten fish.

Even though they were technically on the same team, neither could help but make it into a competition. Both of them were in Zetsu, making use of the fact that concealing their presence would stop the fish from swimming away whenever they got close. The other contestants weren’t as smart, but Gon and Hisoka barely minded them. This was a competition between the two of them. It had always been like that from the start—and it still was. They were barely edging each other out though Hisoka always somehow had a few more than Gon.

~♥️♣️♦️♠️~

Hisoka found it to be a mundane game by itself, but there was some entertainment to be found because he was with Gon. Even with something as trivial as this, he enjoyed watching Gon struggle as hard as he could against him. To tell the truth, Hisoka was barely paying attention to the fish and the reason for that was because he was most definitely cheating by using his Bungee Gum to drag the fish into his poi.

Now of course, he wasn’t going to declare that out loud. Not when Gon was being so cute getting frustrated that Hisoka had always somehow beat him out by a margin whenever he checked up on his bowl. Hisoka would pretend to be oblivious every time Gon tried to sneak a glance in his direction. It made Hisoka want to steal some of the fish from Gon’s bowl just to tease him, but then Gon would definitely notice that and catch onto him.

Eventually, the round came to an end and the stall keeper tallied up the results. Gon was irked by how Hisoka only had two more fish than him and was ready to hurl complaints before—

“Hey, wait!” Gon called out. He grabbed Hisoka by the arm.

“Hmm?” Hisoka nonchalantly glanced over at Gon.

Gon was in his crazed concern mode. “You were using your hands again!”

Moving his hands away before Gon could grasp them, Hisoka let out a small chuckle. “Ah—,” he drawled, drawing it out to the tip of his tongue, “You don’t have to worry about them. ♦️”

“Eh? Why?!”

“Because they’re already healed, ♣️” he said playfully. “See? ♥️” He demonstrated by removing the bandages and showing his unbroken fingers, bending and straightening them with ease.

“W-What?!” Gon was utterly shocked, blinking multiple times just to make sure. “But…you, I-”

“I forgot to take the bandages off, ♦️” Hisoka replied with a smirk. This one was partially true. He’d forgotten to remove them before the date but after Gon had already pointed the bandages out and went through the effort to treat him with such care, Hisoka had no choice but to remain silent about it, if only for his own amusement.

Gon stared at him incredulously. “So you were lying this whole time?!”

Hisoka pretended to be a little hurt by the accusation. “But I didn’t lie. ♥️ I never said my hands were injured, did I? ♦️ You simply assumed out of your own accord. ♥️”

Gon pouted, unable to find a counter. “Then why didn’t you say anything?!”

Hisoka chuckled. “It wouldn’t be any fun if I did that. You’re too cute for me not to tease. ♥️”

In the end, all Gon did was huff and glare at him. “You. Freaking. Suck!”

~♥️♣️♦️♠️~

The stall keeper declared that Gon’s team won. He handed the prize to Gon, the Mystery Pond card, and Gon read its description. It seemed kind of useless. Oh well. It was one of the Restricted Slot Cards, so at least he was one step closer to getting all 100 of them. He stored it into his binder, seeing as how he didn’t need to make a copy since Hisoka wasn’t interested in collecting cards.

Stepping away from the stall, Gon realized that Hisoka had somehow disappeared while he was getting his prize for winning. He was about to call open his binder to locate him when there was a cheer of voices nearby that caught his attention. Making his way over to the source, it was a game of shooting moving targets. Like the fish scooping stall, there was a crowd of people watching the current players.

One of the players scoffed. “This is gonna be easy!”

Apparently the round had just started, so Gon came at a good time to watch. Since he was small, he was barely noticed as he slowly pushed his way towards the front. The stall was decorated with balloon lanterns and had drawings and figurines from both sides. On the counter laid five rifles.

“That card’s gonna be mine in no time.”

“Dumbass!” someone from the crowd called out. “That’s what they all say at first.”

“The hell do ya mean?”

“It gets faster the more objects that are shot,” another voice explained. “And you can’t hit the same one twice or you’re out.”

There was a sudden murmur of voices.

“Seriously?”

“Should we even try?”

“It sounds hard...”

“Hey, maybe we can steal one off of the winners.” There were a couple of laughs passed around, though now that someone brought the idea up, it wasn’t completely out of the question.

The game started and everyone quieted down, all intent on watching how the game would go. There were small objects like toys and boxed snacks placed in three layers that moved as if they were on a conveyor belt. It’d been relatively easy for the players to get a shot in. The objects weren’t knocked down, they were marked by a color that was different for every player, indicating it’d already been hit before. But then it started getting faster and faster—so fast that everything was blurring and it was near impossible to make the outlines of the objects. All players reached the same conclusion: fire randomly and pray that it hit something. They also needed to pray that it didn’t hit one that was already marked.

The game soon came to an end, and no winners were to be found. Unlike the other stall, it was a single-player experience. Instead of deciding the winners based on who had the highest, the goal was to reach 10 marked objects or it was a loss. The stall keeper called for new players to come up and play. Most people left, not wanting to deal with the seemingly impossible game. Others stayed, however. They were all after the same goal of stealing the card after someone finally won.

Gon eagerly raised his hand first, paying the entry fee and stepping up to the counter. He took ahold of the rifle, getting a feel for it. It was obvious that it wasn’t a real one and the ammo was more like that of paintballs than bullets. He ended up winning without much difficulty, easily hitting at least 20 objects. His eyes had always been pretty sharp.

The stall keeper handed him the prize: the Luck Bankbook, and even let him take some of the stuff that he got a mark on. He mostly got toys and even a cute kitty keychain that reminded him of Killua. The instant Gon received the Luck Bankbook, he entered Zetsu and dashed out of there fast, disappearing in the blink of an eye to the crowd. Even with the Paladin’s Necklace, he didn’t want to get hounded by a bunch of people trying to make negotiations.

Gon eventually stopped somewhere that was quieter and wasn’t as crowded with people. He took a breath after his stop, ready to start his search.

“Hungry?” a voice spoke, behind him.

This time, Gon didn’t get jumpy and defensive. He turned around to meet Hisoka. “Where were you?” Then he tilted his head to the side as he noticed something in Hisoka’s hands. “What’s that?”

“They’re candy apples. ♣️ I bought them at a stall while you were playing the game. ♦️” Hisoka slid his tongue across it. “Hmm. It’s sweet. ♥️” He offered the other out to Gon.

Gon blinked. “For me?”

“Of course, I bought them for us, ♥️” Hisoka said. Gon merely stared at him, dumbfounded. Hisoka chuckled. “Is there something strange about that? ♠️”

“I didn’t expect you to treat me.” But he accepted the candy apple anyway. The surface of the apple was coated in a lustrous red, glazed with sugar at the top. “Thanks!” He took a bite into it.

Hisoka’s lips turned into a playful smirk. “We’re on a _date_ , after all. ♥️”

Finding a secluded spot nearby, they sat down to eat the snack. The lighting in the area was dim as the lantern lights from the festival stalls barely reached them. The sounds of others chattering and cheering became submerged into the ambience.

“It reminds me of someone,” Hisoka spoke in the near silence.

Gon took another bite. “Who?”

Hisoka’s eyes shifted from the apple to Gon. “You.”

“Huh? How?” Last time he checked, he was a human and looked nothing like an apple.

The sound of rustling clothes reverberated through the air. “Because you’re like an unripened fruit, ♦️” Hisoka said, his purring voice lowering into a whisper, right up against Gon’s ear. “You’re not ready to be _devoured_ yet. ♥️”

The words were like fangs pressed against Gon’s neck, sending deafening chills down his spine. He froze. His heartbeat was rising to his ears. Was it fear? His body was telling him to run away and that it wasn’t safe, that he might die. But Gon remained where he was, not because he couldn’t move his body, but because he chose not to.

“I’ll be waiting,” Hisoka said. There was a distinct _crunch_ as he bit into the core, like bones snapping in half, the very sound that would be made when he would finally break his cherished toy. “For when you’re ready. ♥️” Hisoka didn’t need to say the next words. Ready to be bruised, ravaged,—killed.

For when Gon reached his full potential.

Once they finished the apples, they discarded the sticks. The candy apples weren’t enough to satisfy their appetites, so they ventured back into the main street of the festival, trying out all the street food. The food was cheap and priced at 250 Jenny per person while the portions themselves were quite filling. The tension between Gon and Hisoka had mostly dissipated, it being clear that Hisoka had no intention of doing anything. And yet there was a subconscious tug at the back of Gon’s mind to remain cautious, even in the comfort of the presence of the masses, because Hisoka was a _very_ fickle person.

After they’d finished dining off of street food stalls, which actually tasted pretty good, there was an in-game announcement not long later saying that the fireworks would start soon.

“There’s too many lights,” Gon said, looking at the sky. “We won’t be able to see them well here.”

Hisoka raised a brow. “You seem to know our destination. ♣️”

Gon pulled out a card and winked at him. “Accompany! Soufrabri!”

~♥️♣️♦️♠️~

The sound of tidal waves rolled off the shore. The two had settled down near the edge, waters not quite reaching them to wet their shoes. It was still and peaceful, like the calm before the storm. The fireworks hadn’t started yet. In the meantime, Gon suggested to stargaze. Looking up at the sky, Hisoka observed the speckles of light within the abyss of the night.

“Do you see that one?” Gon said quietly, pointing up at something. Hisoka’s eyes trailed to where it went as Gon drew an outline with his finger. The wind carried Gon’s voice out. “I think I know it.” There was something soothing about the voice that could almost lull Hisoka to rest. “Its name is Orion, I think.”

Then Gon began retelling stories of his adventures. They were a random assortment of things, not really in chronological order. But Hisoka felt like he was learning things about Gon he’d never known before. Sure, he could read Gon’s emotions and fighting style like they were words of an open book. It was easy to read what was right in front of him. But he couldn’t read about Gon’s aspirations, his dreams, his journey, and all those tidbits of moments in between that Hisoka found characteristically cute.

There was a tap on Hisoka’s shoulder.

When had Gon stopped talking? Hisoka didn't even realize. He’d been too absorbed in the stories being told to him.

Gon had a small box in his hand and he passed it over to Hisoka. “It’s your gift,” he urged him, “Come on, open it!”

Hisoka removed the lid, revealing the contents inside. He lifted them out and his eyes widened slightly. They were gold earrings, accentuated with hearts at the bottom. He rested the earrings against the tips of his fingers, appraising them as the moonlight gleamed against the surface.

“I got them custom-made. Do you like them?”

Hisoka’s lips curled upwards and there was warmth emanating from somewhere. Wasn’t it supposed to be cold, being so close to the ocean? “I do. They’re lovely. ♥️”

Gon took the earrings and leaned in closer. The action caused Hisoka to be slightly perplexed, wondering what Gon wanted, being in such close proximity. Gon held the earrings to Hisoka’s ears as they dangled. “Aha, I knew it!” he beamed. “They look great on you!” After getting a good look, he sheepishly placed them back in Hisoka’s hands. “Sorry! I just wanted to see how they’d look on you.”

Hisoka hummed, a bit pleased. “It’s quite all right. ♥️” It was only a shame he couldn’t see how they looked on him for himself.

After examining the earrings again, Hisoka gently placed them back inside the box, feeling their worth as many times more than their monetary value. He considered them to be priceless. There was a small smile on his face he couldn’t quite get rid of, so he propped a knee up and rested his arm against it, hiding his mouth against the back of his hand. He knew it was a futile attempt and felt a little silly, though, because Gon would be able see right through his act with those perceptive eyes of his.

Not long after, fireworks ascended into the sky, covering the little stars. They were bright and colorful and their sounds drowned out the ability to hear anything else. After a few minutes, the first wave of fireworks ended and it felt a little odd to finally have some quietness.

“Have you ever seen fireworks before?” asked Gon. “They did them from time to time on Whale Island. But they were pretty small, nothing as big as the ones right now.”

And something urged Hisoka to talk but he wasn’t sure what it was. “I have. Where I came from, they hosted a lot of fireworks. ♦️”

“Really?” Gon turned to him. “That sounds like fun!”

“Yes, they held one every day. ♦️”

“Where’d you come from?”

“It’s a forgotten land,” Hisoka said. But he continued, seeing as how Gon was curious to know anyway. “Its name was Glam Gas Land. It was located to the north of Yorknew. ♠️”

Gon’s eyes trailed up as if to search for something in his mind. “Mm, I think I heard the name before but I’m not sure.”

“That’s fine, ♥️” Hisoka said. “It’s not that important. ♠️”

There was silence again. Then Gon moved closer to Hisoka, brushing against the sand. “What was it like there?” he asked, continuing where they’d left off.

Hisoka hummed as he gazed at the stars. “It was known for its show business. ♦️ Many troupes came to perform at the casinos and hotels there. ♣️”

“Oh!” Gon perked up, suddenly realizing something. “So you were a magician there? That’s where you learned your skills, right?”

“You could say that. ♥️”

Then the second round of fireworks started and they both looked up at the sky again.

~♥️♣️♦️♠️~

When the fireworks show finally ended, there was a lulling silence. They stayed still in the remains of the heart-pounding experience. A gentle breeze picked up towards the direction of the unending sea, causing light ripples against their clothes. The waves were quiet tonight.

Hisoka was the first to break the stillness. He stood up and began walking a few steps to the side. Gon was about to ask him what was wrong before he felt himself being pulled up against his will.

Immediately, Gon activated Gyo. “W-Wha-” Hisoka’s Bungee Gum had him tied to the spot!

There was a sly smirk on Hisoka’s face. “You should be more careful in the future, ♥️” he said mischievously. He began to walk towards Gon. With every dreadful step Hisoka took, Gon’s heart dropped and his fear heightened. The sound of Hisoka’s footsteps became obscured by his deafening heartbeats. Come on, _move_! He struggled against it, but he couldn’t escape. Eventually, Hisoka stopped right in front of him, only separated by a few inches. The smirk on his face had vanished.

Hisoka slowly raised his hand, wrapping it around Gon’s neck, his nails pricking against the bare skin, not quite forceful enough to draw blood. “There’s still much you need to learn, ♣️” he whispered dangerously close. His words hung in the air. There were no fireworks or wind or anything at all. It was only the two of them. Hisoka’s hand moved to cup Gon’s chin.

He leaned in and planted a light kiss on Gon’s lips. Gon’s eyes widened at the unexpected action. It was sweet and somber, and he could taste remains of the candy apple.

When Hisoka moved away, he was already gone. There was a card lying on the ground in his stead. Gon found himself able to move freely again, no longer bound by Bungee Gum. Bending down to pick the card up, he turned it over.

Ace of spades.

There were no words written on it but somehow, in his heart, he understood its implications.

_Thank you for our date. Until we meet again._

With a steeled resolve, Gon opened his hand. The wind carried the card away.

The next time they met, he would give Hisoka a fight worth _dying_ for.

~♥️♣️♦️♠️~

**Extra:**

“I haven’t seen you with those before.” Illumi gestured to Hisoka’s earrings.

“Hmm?” Hisoka glanced at him, his chin resting on his hand. “Oh,” he drawled. “They were a gift from my date. ♥️” He sounded very pleased.

Illumi took a sip from his drink. “I feel sorry for her.”

“It was Gon.”

Illumi looked at him and Hisoka looked back. His eyes were the usual emotionless blank that they were, but there was an added hint of disgust that Hisoka pinpointed. “You have issues,” was all Illumi said before turning back to look at the view of the city below.

“I’d rather not hear that from the one with a brother complex. ♠️”

There was only silence as the two indulged in their drinks.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Midway into writing this I realized that Gon (probably?) couldn’t take the plushie outside of Greed Island with him. Let’s just pretend Dwun made an exception for him since it was just a cute stuffed animal lol. This chapter had so many cliches, I hope it wasn’t cringy and it was at least enjoyable to read. I had so much trouble with Hisoka, he's an extremely hard character to write for I'm sorry if he's a little OOC.
> 
> I was also listening to Kyousou Requiem and Honki vs. Kyouki again and Jesus the songs are so Hisogon I'm done.


End file.
